Arifureta: Light in the Darkness
by ArifuretaForever
Summary: A loner, an outcast, and a bit of an asshole, he lived his life by his own rules and couldn't stand idiots in the slightest, that all changed when something unexpected occurred and changed his life forever. Now on an adventure of a lifetime, our maverick will rise to become something greater than himself, something he never expected to be, a Hero.
1. Chapter 1

The young man was at a complete loss for words, for before his eyes was an impossible site.

He is hovering in a world of pure white, and facing is a dragon.

This dragon is 100 meters in length, styled after the dragons of the west, with a set of demonic looking horns adorning its head and eyes the color of obsidian. It possesses two sets of legs, one hind and one back, with six sets of wings on its back, and a tail with spikes layering it. The color of its scales is a dirty dark brown, and its leathery skin is peppered in old scar wounds, it even possesses an x-shaped scar in between it's eyes. Finally coming from the dragons mouth is not fire, but shadows, somehow the best is breathing shadows, the darkest the young man had ever laid eyes on, it sense chills down his spine.

"Hehe, so your the one this time, huh?" The dragon jovially spoke, in an old and deep baritone voice.

"Well, nice to meet you partner. Now, I wonder what fate has in store for us? Let's see, shall we?"

Before the young man could even get a word in, he was engulfed in a bright white light.

"How did it end up like this?" The young man thought.

* * *

Monday, the dreaded day that any student worth their salt hates with a passion, except for those called teachers pets and goody two shoe types. On this day, the end of the weekend is signified, meaning students must return to the four wall prison known as school. Putting up with an overload of homework, no time to sleep, and teachers asking you questions you have no clue what the answers are, it is safe to say that whoever invented school is a grade A sadist.

Walking along to said prison was one student who dreaded school even more than most. He wanted to graduate already since his grades were more than good enough, but his parents declined the idea immediately. "Enjoy your youth," they told him, but that was easier said than done.

Anthony Kuusha is without a doubt Japanese, but not fully. His father is Italian, and as such, he inherited the man's blonde hair which falls around his head in curls, giving him an "exotic and dangerous" look as most of the girls put it.

He didn't really care for it thought. Not to say he was self-loathing, on the contrary, Anthony holds himself in high opinion, and he knows he isn't bad looking by a mile. He stands at a 180 centimeters tall, with a lithe but well muscled body, accented by his father's hair color and his mother's deep brown eyes, all rounded out by his black steel-rimmed glasses, which people say give him the smart guy look.

No, the problem came from other things.

As anthony entered the school grounds, he could hear the whispers beginning.

Anthony you see has an interest in mythology and history, not to mention manga and anime, since he didn't begin to live in Japan until he was 10 years old. But he found out that loving manga and anime too much in Japan, could end up making things difficult for you. As such, he was labeled a certain nickname by his classmates.

Foreigner Otaku.

Anthony could only sigh at the nickname. He wasn't upset or pissed off by any means, he was just a bit worried about his classmates who came up with the name, for to him, it sounded like pure crap, sprinkled with stupid simplicity. Anthony himself could have come up with far better names.

Entering the classroom a few minutes early as he usually did so he could get a quick nap in before class, he headed to his seat which was placed exactly where he wanted it, close to the window and near the back row. Flopping into his chair, he saw the usual gazes from his classmates. From most of the boys it was jealousy and anger, while from the girls it was aversion with a bit of enamoring mixed in. He could care less.

"Well, good morning Anthony."

Anthony gained a wry smile, and looked to his side, putting his chin on his hand that he had laid on the desk. The girl that was speaking to him was the reason most of the boys in class hated his ever loving guts. She possesses chestnut hair that is fluffy and falls to the nape of her neck, green eyes, and an upbeat personality. This is Yuka Sonobe, Anthony's technical childhood friend.

It's technical only because he did not meet her until he entered the 5th grade, but that was only considered that way by him, as fas as Yuka was concerned, she would always see him as a childhood friend she had known for a long time.

"Good morning Yuka, it's rare for you to greet me this early," Anthony lazily said with a smile on his face, "something wrong?"

Yuka puffed her cheeks a bit. "Nothing's wrong, can't two childhood friends just have a morning chat," she questioned, which caused Anthony to lightly chuckle.

When Yuka noticed this, she lightly slapped his arm. "Meanie," she crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks even bigger than before, making her look like a little kid throwing a tantrum.

To any outside party Yuka and Anthony would look like a couple, but they weren't. Those who knew them truly, knew the banter that was taking place was as easy as breathing for them, developed from years of doing it.

"Fine, fine, I'm sorry," Anthony mused, waving his free hand at her.

Yuka laid one eye on him, and then released the air in her cheeks, painting a smile on her face.

"See, feel better now?"

"It's your fault I got upset in the first place."

Anthony averted his eyes with a smile on his face, "really, I don't know what you're talking about?" He would feign his innocence to the very end.

Yuka was preparing to puff her cheeks again, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Spinning around she was met with the smiling faces of her two best friends Taeko Sugawara and Nana Miyazaki.

While Takeo possess dark brown hair tied in twin tails and dark yellow eyes, Nana has light brown hair with a single ponytail tied sideways and blue eyes. Anthony could think of no better friends to balance out Yuka, who has trouble speaking her true feelings. While Takeo is calm and diligent, Nana's upbeat spirit makes everything meld like glue.

"Well, what do we have here," Takeo asked with a grin.

"Well Takeo," Nana mused, grinning with a hand on her chin, " it looks to me as if Yuka is flirting again with Anthony."

Yuka's cheeks were dyed a bright red. "I-I'm not," she managed to say in a high pitched voice, completely and utterly embarrassed.

"Hey,hey, Anthony tell us the truth," Nana excitedly asked, going over to begin poking anthony in his cheek with her finger, "are you and Yuka dating?"

"Nana!" Yuka screamed again, throwing her arms around in frustration at her friend not taking the hint.

Anthony to his credit was not one to get easily flustered, he remained silent with a smile on his face. The actions of Yuka's friend truly told Anthony how much they valued her.

"Come on," Nana began to press his other cheek as well," you can tell us, we won't tell anybody. Or could it be…" Nana packed up in mock surprise, "that you and Yuka have gone all the w-hmpf!"

Right before Nana could finish her statement, Yuka's hands appeared over her mouth, steam now protruding from her ears. That was just how high her embarrassment was at this point.

No matter how much Nana struggled, Yuka would not let go, the spectacle was enough to bring Anthony to laughter.

"Anthony, did you plan this," Takeo asked, appearing in front of his desk.

He turned to face her with a grin. "I didn't have to plan anything, but you know how Nana is, so it was only the waiting game," he finished, leaning back in his chair, placing his palms behind his head, his grin still present.

Takeo sighed, "right, I understand." She walked over to her friends, and gave them both chops to the head, which caused them to stop their antics, and begin to rub where Takeo struck.

"Why me," Yuka asked.

"Yeah, what gives Takeo," Nana asked.

"Come on you two, class will start soon," she grabbed the hems of both their skirts and began to pull them toward their seats.

"Anthony, you always seem to be having fun," a quiet voice spoke.

Anthony turned his eyes to the owner of the voice. A plain looking young man with brown hair and eyes by the name of Hajime Nagumo.

He felt sadness for Nagumo, for many reasons.

"Hey pervert, trying to chat up your fellow otaku!" A venomous and pompous voice spat out toward Nagumo.

The owner is one Daisuke Hiyama, a person Anthony couldn't stand. Granted he couldn't stand bullies in the first place, but Hayama and his group consisting of Reichi Kondou, Yoshi Saitou and Shinji Nakano were the worst of the worst in his book. All of the boys in class held some sort of contempt toward Hajime, but these four were the worst, making his school life without a doubt, a living hell.

"What, you tired from staying up all night playing H games?"

"Gross, your pervert."

"Why do you even come to school, just become and Neet already."

Those were the comments slinged at Hajime, who only smiled at took it without saying a word. It was always like this, no matter what was said or done to him, Hajime never fought back. For the life of him, Anthony could never figure out why. Back in Italy where he lived before, this type of harassment would have already have had Hiyama and his cronies expelled, but in Japan… Anthony could only shake his head in disappointment.

"Hey four-eyes, got something to say," Hiyama roared in the direction of Anthony.

Anthony sat up in his chair and turned his eyes to the smirking group. He then smiled a friendly smiled, and pushed up his glasses. "Not a thing, you disgusting maggots, but if you persist, I just might get angry." Anthony smiled the entire time when speaking, never letting it drop from his face.

Hiyama and his group were shaken to their core. Normally if anyone threatened them they would beat that person down, but they never crossed Anthony, for he had been taking karate since he was 8 and was a black belt already at the age of 17. They knew if they attacked and started anything first, he would put them in the hospital without hesitation, and it would be considered self-defense.

"Tch, come one you guys," Hiyama said, turning around and walking off.

They had done the smart thing and backed down.

"Thanks Anthony," Hajime weakly spoke.

"Sure Hajime, but really, stand up for yourself a bit, it's not like anyone will fault you."

Hajime glanced down to his side, "no it's alright, I'm fine."

Anthony really couldn't understand why Hajime let himself be a punching bag, especially since the reason he was was only because of people's petty jealousy.

Just then, the door to the classroom slid open, causing everyone to turn their heads. Anthony could only sigh, the embodiment of Hajime's problem had just arrived in the classroom. One girl by the name of Kaori Shirasaki.

Kaori is a real life bishojo girl with glossy black hair and brown eyes standing at a reasonable height of 170 centimeters. Seen as a goddess by the student body of the school, everyone worships the ground she walks on.

"Good morning Hajime," Kaori said to a blushing Nagumo.

Her being a goddess is a problem. Even though Anythony wasn't the focus of the glares, he could feel the intensity sky rocket when Kaori gave her simple greeting to Nagumo. Having the personal attention of Kaori, the boys despised Nagumo, saying things like, "Why can't Kaori greet me? Lucky bastard being favored by Kaori. And Hajime Nagumo should just die.". The girls were just as bad. Since Hajime never returned Kaori's greeting, they assumed he was being mean to her, and looked at him with gazes saying, "shape up or else.". Anthony just thanked his stars that Yuka and her friends weren't like that. They were in fact part of only a small group of people who didn't despise Nagumo because of Kaori.

Anthony pushed up his glasses out of habit and once again began to feel sorry for most of his classmates. 'Why couldn't they see what's right in front of them', he thought. It seems the possibility never crossed their minds, Kaori was being friendly with Hajime because she had some form of feelings for him, or just wanted to be his friend. He really had no clue what was up with his class.

"Good morning Kaori, great day huh?"

'Guh,' Anthony mentally spat. The person who had spoken was part of Kaori's inner circle of friends, which were the popular kids at school.

"Kouki, good morning," Kaori said with a smile.

Kouki Amanogawa, the embodiment of the stereotypical popular boy. His name even possess the kanji for light. Standing at 180 centimeters tall just like Anthony, he has dark brown hair that falls to the nape of his neck, and sparkling blue eyes. His natural charisma is also exceptionally high, with guys wanting to follow him and girls swooning over him from just a few words. However, Anthony can say without a doubt, he hates the existence known as Kouki Amanogawa.

The reasons being many. For starters, like Kaori he is an air-head who can't read the mood. Although in Kaori's case it's natural, something Anthony thought he would never see in real life.

No, the main reason Anthony can't stand Kouki is his personality. Kouki believes only in his own way, something which he refers to as "righteous justice" or whatever the hell that means. So in layman's terms it means no matter what anybody else says to him or tells him, Kouki will disregard it if it interferes with his own views. In certain cases he even twists a person's words to suit his own ideals.

"Nagumo, stop being a bother to Kaori every morning, it's not fair to her."

Those words from Kouki just made Anthony's point. Just because Kaori was one of his childhood friends he thought it meant he knew her best, so he wholeheartedly decided that Kaori greeting Nagumo was her being forced by him to do it, and that it wasn't of her own free will.

"Eh," Kaori twisted her head to the side, "but Kouki, it's not like that at all, I'm speaking to Nagumo because I want to."

And with those words, the intense glares on Hajime shot up by a thousand.

"Oh, Kaori, ever the nice one," Kouki laughed out, ignoring what Kaori had just stated straight to his face.

It was almost enough for Anthony to jump out of his chair and punch the little spoiled brat. But he refrained, it most likely wouldn't solve anything.

"Kouki, don't be like that. Kaori is making her own decision."

Anthony was happy, it was thanks to this one person that Kouki was kept in check. A girl by the name of Shizuku Yageshi. Standing at 172 centimeters tall with dark hair in a single high ponytail and deep red eyes with nice skin, Shizuku is considered a beauty only second to Kaori. And because of her knightly demeanor and the fact she is an ace at kendo, the girls of the school refer to her as onee-sama which Shizuku is embarrassed by greatly.

"Sure,sure, Shizuku." Again, Kouki waved off Shizuku like what she said didn't reach his ears.

Sighing she turned to Anthony, "good morning Anthony."

"Morning Shizuku," he answered her.

Shizuku was the only one in the group Anthony could actually get along with. Kaori was nice was but only focus on Magumo, Kouki is as you know the bane of his existence, and the last one… Anthony could say with no shame at all, he was an idiot.

Ryutarou Sakagmi, a bear of a guy standing at 190 cm, with short spiked black hair and green eyes. He was Kouki's best friend and the last childhood friend rounding out the group. Most of the time he thought only with his muscles, not being any better than Kouki or Kaori at reading the mood. Though Anthony could say, he was more indifferent to Ryutarou than anything else, often times he would ask Anthony to spat with him in kaate, to which Anthony won almost every match, despite the physique difference. It was all thanks to him following one simple rule, adapt to the situation and conquer it.

"Oh, good morning Anthony," Kaori said, still completely oblivious to the enraged glares, now a few who Anthony could feel were directed at him, but again, he did not care.

He also notice Kouki and Ryutarou giving him a mean glare saying, "how dare this guy act so casual when talking to Kaori!" or something along those lines.

Anthony raised a brow and turned his gaze to Shizuku for some assistance, but all she could do was flash an apologetic smile. Shrugging Anthony turned and smiled at Kaori.

"Good morning Kaori, nice day isn't it?"

Anthony was actually getting a bit of pleasure from how pissed off an in despair his classmates were when he returned Kaori's greeting.

Was he a bit of a sadist? Maybe so, he had always enjoyed teasing people quite a bit, and it only showed signs of getting worse as he got older.

Before the situation could escalate any further the door to the classroom was slammed open, and a cute voice rang out, "Alright students, class is about to begin so take your seats."

The voice belonged to the students homeroom teacher, one Aiko Hayatama. Aiko had the appearance of a child, with a cute bob cut haircut of her brown hair and green eyes. She would only be popular with a certain type of guy.

Nevertheless, the students in the class loved her. Not because they respected her as a teacher, but because of her appearance, they all thought she needed protecting, and even gave her the nickname Aiko-chan, to which they never stopped calling her, no matter how much she begged them.

"Ah, good morning Aiko-chan," the class sang out in happy unison.

Aiko puffed out her cheeks and shook her arms in anger, "I've told you all many times, refer to me as Aiko-sensei!" Her actions only made her seem cuter to the class watching.

'And so another day begins,' Anthony thought. As to the reason why he sounded tired, it was for one simple fact, he was considered a genius. When he was younger Anthony was tested, and it was discovered he possesses an eidetic memory, so really, school was like a walk in the park for him. But what he really wanted to do was graduate so he could start on his passion, becoming an archaeologist.

He wanted to travel the world and learn about it as much as he could, but… he turned to glance at Yuka for a quick second, "I guess waiting a bit won't be so bad," he muttered to himself, a small smile forming on his sleeps.

But then… Anthony didn't know what is was, but he suddenly got a foreboding feeling.

In the next second, his eyes were assaulted by glowing particles of light, looking down, he saw a strange circle with symbols he had never seen before spreading out across the floor of the classroom.

"Ah!"

"What's going on!"

"What is this thing!?"

The students began to panic, knocking over desks and chairs in an attempt to make it to the doors, but with everyone cluttering together at once, it was a jumbled mess.

Anthony wasted not a moment longer, he jumped from his seat and looked around for Yuka, when he laid eyes on her, he ran to her and took her hand in his, pulling her close to his chest.

"Anthony!" Yuka yelped, gaining a massive blush at Anthony's actions.

"Everyone," Kouki shouted, "remain calm, panicking won't solve anything. Let's move back from the doors for a moment so that we can escape for real."

But before anyone could execute Kouki's orders, the circle shined brighter, emitting a light that blinded just about everyone.

In a flash, the entire classroom and the students within, disappeared from Japan with a trace.

On to an adventure, that no one could've imagined.

* * *

**A/N**

**Hey what's up. So recently, one of my favorite FFnet writers named Seiker Hikaru has started his own Arifureta story, and even though I already have one going, I thought, why not write another one as well.**

**So in short, this story has an OC main character as well, but it follows the main timeline of events, with a few changes of course.**

**Hope you like it, and I encourage more people to read and write Arifureta stories, it's really great, trust me.**


	2. Chapter 2

As the light finally died down Anthony was finally able to get his bearings, blinking his vision back into focus his mind raced back to the war torn and dark scaled dragon he had just encountered, the feeling of the dragon's shadow breath still fresh at the forefront of his mind. He still felt a bit cold, but was warming up for some reason.

It was then that Anthony had remembered what he had done prior to his meetings with the mysterious dragon, looking down he saw a blushing yuka being held firmly in his arms, her body heat warming him up.

"Am, Yuka," Anthony said, adjusting his glasses with his fingers, "s-sorry about this, I just acted on instinct." He then quickly removed his arms from around her body, backing a bit, a pink tint barely visible on his own cheeks.

"N-no, it's fine. Thank you for protecting me." Yuka whispered out, not even able to look Anthony in the eyes, she felt her heart beating so fast, she was afraid it may pop out of her chest if she looked at him for even a moment in her current state.

While Yuka was trying to calm herself, Anthony had already recovered. Taking a look around, he spotted a mural of all things. The mural looked to be ancient and what one would in ruins back on Earth, it depicted a divine being, emitting holy light downward, onto what Anthony could only guess to be humans, beasts, and devils, who were engaged in fighting, something Anthony found very interesting.

After taking it in, Anthony scanned his surroundings, his classmates seems to be ok, but just as confused and dumbfounded as he was. He then laid his eyes on Hajime who was examined the mural just as Anthony had a moment ago, after leering at it he turned to Anthony and he got the same thought vibes from Hajime, something was amiss in the place they had been brought to.

Finally Anthony noticed it… they were not alone at all. He had no clue as to why he hadn't noticed before now, but he and his classmates were surrounded, 30 people in white robes were forming a circle around them, and the same symbol that appeared on the floor of their classroom was inscribed on the floor under them in chalk.

'Well, this is setting of major alarm bells,' Anthony worriedly thought, he had played enough RPG games and red enough fantasy novels to deduce the people around them were priests of some sort… which meant that likely, they had been…

Before Anthony could finish his thoughts, he was drawn to a sound, turning his head forward he noticed a small number of the white robed individuals part to let someone approach the group.

It was an old man, who looked like a grandma, dressed in robes more ornate than the ones surrounding the class, weilding a golden priest staff, and with a long white beard, Anthony knew it could only be one person, the man in charge.

"Greetings," he spoke, in a regal voice, "my name is Ishar Langbard, I am the Pope of the Holy Church, and I welcome you to our world, if you follow me, I will give a more detailed explanation as to why you were brought here."

Anthony smirked, his thoughts were right on the mark, they had been summoned to another freaking world of all places.

Following Pope Lagbrand they arrived at an ornate dining hall, Anthony taking it all in could tell that the place was high end. The ornate paintings and decor reminded him of palaces he had seen back in the history books of his own world, so it seemed the church had a firm grasp on power in this world.

That was bad in Anthony's book. To much mixing of church and state lead to the Dark Ages on Earth, resulting in humanities stagnation for centuries. This world they were in might be following a similar path.

Pope Lagbrand took his seat in an ornate chair in the middle of the room. 'Looks more like a throne to me,' Anthony sarcastically thought as he eyed the pope with wariness. As if sensing his gaze, pope Langbard shifted his line of sight to meet Anthony's and when he did, Anthony could make out.., contempt for one thing. But just as quickly as he saw it, the look disappeared behind a mask of indifference, as Langbard shifted his gaze back to the room as a whole.

As Anthony and his fellow classmates took their seats, he couldn't stop thinking about that moment he had just experienced with Langbard. Like Hajime, he knew he was a bit of an outcast, a guy who didn't go with the flow, a maverick for lack of a better term, but that might make him dangerous to whatever scheme he saw cooking in the pope's eyes during their brief exchange, so for now, he would stay low and learn as much as possible.

The pope snapped his fingers and instantly, food and drink was delivered into the grand room, by beautiful maids. The boys being red blooded ogled the females with all their might, while the girls sent them death glares. Anthony even noticed Hajime checking out the maids, but that's when he felt it… a cold gaze that could make hell freeze over, directed in his general direction. Slowly moving his eyes across the room his gaze landed on Kaori, who was looking… right at Hajime with those eyes. But when Hajime noticed, Kaori went back to normal, like it had never happened in the first place.

Anthony wanted to scream and shout, but also run a bit. He knew Kaori had some sort of feelings for Nagumo, but for her to be a Yandere (girl who will murder anyone who gets within range of the object of their affection), well, he didn't forsee that coming.

"Here you are, sir." A maid said, playing a meal in front of Anthony, her blushing when he looked up at her.

"Thanks," he said with a smile, causing her to blush further.

"No, it's my pleasure," she then raced away, at full speed.

"Hmpf."

Anthony turned to Yuka, who was puffing her cheeks and giving Anthony a death stare now. "Seems you and that maid got along quite well."

Anthony gained a complicated smile, "Yuka listen, I was just thanking her properly, honest, nothing more and nothing less."

"Sure," she was now giving him dead fish eyes, as if she was looking at a piece of trash or a womanizer, either way, Anthony was in the dog house for doing absolutely nothing.

He had only one choice left.

Reaching under the table, he took Yuka's hand in his own, and caressed her soft skin, he knew because she would drag him with her to buy lotion and other products all the time.

"A-Anthony!" Yuka blushed, trying and failing to pull her hand out of Anthony's grasp.

He gave her a smile, "I won't let go until you believe me, I wasn't flirting with that maid at all, but I can not thank her, my parents didn't raise me that way."

"Ok, just let go," she whispered in a flustered voice.

And Anthony doing the gentlemanly thing, let go.

"Go Yuka, it seems your finally moving forward a bit," Nana said, grinning over Yuka's shoulder at Anthony.

Yuka could only sink into her chair, and pray the teasing would end quickly.

"Attention to you all," pope Langbard called out, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. "It is now time for me to explain the reason you were summoned to this world." So he began.

It seems the world the students had been summoned to was known as Tortus, and three races called it home, normal humans like them, demi-humans which included any type of beastman creature and the subspecies like Elves and Dwarfs, and finally demons who were less in numbers than the other two races, but gifted with exceptionally strong warriors. Like a cliche plot line in an RPG, pope Langbard went on to explain that for hundred of year the humans and demons had been embroiled in a never ending war, but recently the tide had turned in the demons favor, for they had through unknown means gained the power to command and control monsters.

The biology of monsters was not well known, but demon's adding them to their ranks had caused humanity to be pushed back to the brink of their borders, which covered the northern half of Tortus, while demons ruled the south and demi-humans, the east.

"It was for that reason that I prayed to our god Ehit for a miracle, and low and behold, he answered me. He gave the knowledge to perform the summoning ritual with which was used to bring you all here, so that you make vanquish the demonic threat for us."

Anthony gave a miffed snort, the pope sounded as if he had no qualms about what he had just done, summoning unknown individuals against their will to his own world, so that they could fight and kill their enemies for them, a load of crap if he ever heard one.

His classmates to seemed to share his sentiments, after the pope finished his little speech the students roused themselves into an uproar.

"Don't lie to us!"

"Yeah, send us home you asshole!"

"I want to go home and see my parents!"

As Anthony watched his classmates raise their objection to the whole thing, he also kept an eye on the pope, this time he could clearly see utter contempt in the man's eyes, directed at them. His thoughts were most likely along the lines of, "How dare they disrespect Ehit like this, do they not know what an honor they've been given? Just ungrateful.", or something close to that.

Looking over at Hajime, Anthony caught his eyes showing the same thoughts, that pope Langbard was not who he appeared to be at all.

But instead of speaking his mind, the pope stayed calm, and said the following words, "I am truly sorry, but I know of no way to send you all home at this time." It sounded to Anthony's ears as if the old bastard was reading from sort of script.

When he finished this time, the students fell into despair, while some looked ready to kill the pope for even performing the ritual that brought them to Tortus.

"Everyone," that is until Kouki stood up and shouted to command everyone's attention, "I want to do it."

Anthony could only click his tongue at the idiot Kouki was being, he had no idea what he was truly saying at all, this was not some game, it was actual war, with killing and murdering, sure they were all of age to join the army, but doing this and that are completely different things.

"I won't allow it," Aiko shouted enraged. She pushed herself from her seat and faced the pope, "these children are my responsibility, I won't allow them to take part in this so called war of yours."

Anthony was truly impressed, he had never seen Aiko stand her ground like this before, he could feel the determination flowing from her, even if she wasn't projecting it well.

"Aiko-sensei, I understand how you feel, but I in good conscience can't leave these people to fend for themselves." Kouki spoke.

"But Amanogawa…" Aiko shakily said…

"Kouki, I'll fight at well," Ryutarou exclaimed, standing up from his own chair.

"Me as well," Shizuku chimed in, a small on her face.

And with that, the other students changed their tunes, all who were shaky and undecided, now had a firm resolve to fight. Seeing this, Anthony wanted to pound his head on the desk and call all of them idiots, they were all swept up in the charisma of the idiot Kouki.

Meanwhile… Anthony glanced out of the corner of his eye to see pope Langbard wearing a smug grin, it seems he had planned this from the beginning, having targeted Kouki and praying on his sense of justice and naivete.

Pope Langbard clapped, "excellent, you have all decided to fight, we of Tortus are forever within your debt, and will do all we can to assist in this endeavour, even provide training."

The students turned their heads when the pope mentioned training. "You must have felt it no, that you've somehow changed a bit since being summoned to this world?"

"True, I have felt different since coming to this world," Kouki mused, a hand on his chin, "like I have this unknown power well up inside me."

"That is a blessing from the god Ehit, it has been bestowed upon you who were chosen to save this world."

After Langbard finished up his speech, he lead the class to a grand room, and tapped his staff on the floor, in doing so it lit up and opened out to show a marvelous expanse, below them in the outreaches of the ground was a city, and sitting atop it was a castle.

The class marveled at this wonder, which is when Langbard informed them all that magic exists in Tortus, which only brought more stars to their eyes, meanwhile Anthony was still suspicious, it was as if the grand display and spectacle had been planned from the beginning.

"What do you think, Hajime," Anthony asked leaning over and whispering to him.

"It just feels like this is all some big show, for whose benefit I don't know, but I get the feeling we aren't being told everything."

"My thoughts exactly."

The class were then placed on gondolas that descended to the Helleigh Kingdom, the forefront of humanity's war with the demon, and the church's strongest ally. It was in this kingdom that they would be trained.

Once finished with the descent, the students were led to yet another ornate meeting hall, where they were introduced to the royal family of the kingdom, the king Eliheid, the queen Luluaria, the princess Liliana, and the young prince Lundell, who ecstatic in meeting the chosen heroes who would save their people.

After another feast, the students were each lead to their own individual rooms, which were made to look like five star hotels suits. As soon as Anthony was alone, he kicked out his shoes and sat down on his bed. Taking a couple of deep breaths, he removed his glasses and wipe his free palm across his forehead to wipe away the sweat that had been accumulating. It had been a long day, with many a things expressed to him, and he was tried, but for the life of him his brain was firing on full cylinders, still trying to process what had just taken place.

Summoned to another world, war with demons, a mysterious god who the church worshipped unconditionally, and still so many more things he couldn't understand. Like the mysterious dragon he glimpsed and spoke too during the summoning ritual.

"Just what was that," he muttered, placing his glasses down on the nightstand next to him, a hand on his chin. But just as he began to ponder, he heard a knock at his door. Getting up and walking over to open it, he was met with the sight of Yuka… in a nightgown.

"Y-Yuka, what are you doing here?" Anthony nervously asked, with a small blush on his face.

"I need you to do something for me," before Anthony could ask what, Yuka tackled him into a kiss, pushing him into the room and slamming the door behind her.

Seperating, both were left panting with blushes on their faces.

"Yuka, this is um…" Anthony touched his lips, for that he admit was his first ever kiss with a girl, "something. Just what is this about?"

Yuka tackled Anthony again, this time her momentum carrying them to land atop the bud. She pushed herself using her arms, so her face was just inches from his own, a heavy blush on her cheeks, "Anthony… let's have… sex…"

"... What?"

Anthony's brain shut down at that exact moment, it was as if the words spoken to him were in a foreign language.

"You see, I've liked you for a long time now, and," Yuka began to shed tears, "with what we're about to do… if either of us were to die… I don't want any regrets!" She shouted with a burning passion, snuggling her crying face into Anthony's school blazer.

"Yuka…" Anthony wore a complicated smile, as he wrapped his arms around Yuka's body to pull her closer, him brushing her chestnut locks as well. He knew, he knew death was certainly a possibility, but for Yuka to be so scared, he cursed himself for worrying only about himself, he certainly knew why he had grabbed her and held her tight when the summoning circle had been activated, he wanted to protect her, for he felt the same way about her.

So using his hand he lifted up her face, and planted a kiss on her lips.

The rest, as they say, is history.

* * *

**A/N**

**I know you didn't expect that did you? Well, as I said I have a new main character with a different set of rules, and I'm not telling who's going to end up with who, rather, I'll leave that to your imagination.**


	3. Chapter 3

Anthony woke up the next morning with a smile on his face and a bit zoned out. The previous days events still felt like a dream to him. But what hadn't been a dream was the time he had spent with Yuka last night, now at least he wouldn't die a virgin, and he had found love, two things every teenage boy dreamed off. Roused from his sleep by a palace made he was given a change of clothes to replace his school uniform, then he was guided to a grand breakfast with the other students, where he noticed Takeo and Nana giving him lopsided grins the whole time. He knew Yuka probably told them about their tryst when she returned to their shared room, but he didn't find it a big deal, he knew he could trust them to keep quiet about it, and only tease Yuka immensely.

After breakfast the group was led to a large area, where training equipment was at the ready and knights as well. The head knight was known as Meld Loggins, a gruff looking older man and commander of the kingdom's entire knight company. Anthony questioned if it was alright for such an important person to be training them, and Meld just laughed it off.

"Young Anthony is it?" Anthony nodded. "Do not fret, it the king himself who asked me to take on this assignment, but still I would've done it anyway of my own volition. You warriors may be our only and greatest chance to vanquish the demon threat, so the best training in necessary to help you reach your fullest potentials," Meld finished with another laugh. He also went on to say, "And now I can shove all that boring paperwork onto my vice-commander,".

Anthony was a bit torn now. On one hand, having the strongest knight train them was an honor, even if he didn't want to go with the flow of the pope and the so called god Ehit, but on the other hand, Anthony wasn't sure about how Meld was acting, this was supposed to be the leader of the entire kingdoms forces, and he was happy about shoving work off on someone else, that made Anthony gain a complicated expression.

"Worry not everyone, Meld-sensei may be a bum in paperwork and organization, but he is one of the strongest people I know." A female voice spoke from behind the group.

Turning around, most of the class from the boys to even some girls had blushes on their faces. Walking towards them was an undeniable beauty. She is their age, standing 170 centimeters tall, her golden blonde hair in a bun with overlapping braids on her head. She is dressed in a short dark blue tunic that only reaches her thighs, which are shown off quite nicely by the slits that go up to her waist on the tunic, her legs have knee length black stockings, and adoring her feet are knee high black boots. Her waist is secured with a black belt, and she is wearing light blue jacket that falls to her butt. Her eyes are the lightest blue anyone has ever seen before, and her skin is milky white like cream. To finish it all off, she possesses a full chest, wide hips, and an overall nice figure, that has muscles but not overtly.

Putting it all together, she in an S tank beauty than even suprasses the glass idol Kaori.

"Ah, Arturia, saying that about your sensei is a bit," Meld wore a complicated expression.

The girl named Arturia turned to him with a smile on her face, "what's the matter Meld-sensei, aren't you a good for nothing muscle brain who's only capable of fighting."

Meld fell into a depression after that comment.

'She's hot, but her mouth is foul.' Anthony had no clue what to make of the mysterious Arturia yet, but one thing he did know, they might get along quite well. He gained a small smirk on his face at the process of getting to know her.

"Am, Meld who is this person," Kouki asked, completely with his normal expression on his face. He was such an airhead, even if a girl confessed right to his face, he might laugh it off as nothing.

"Oh right, you haven't been formally introduced," Meld raised a finger and pointed to Arturia, who didn't look sorry at all for putting Meld in that state, "this is another person who will be helping with your training. A prodigy and my apprentice, her full name is Arturia Ashworth."

Done picking her nails, Arturia turned to the students and bowed, "good day to you all, as Meld-sensei said, my name is Arturia Ashworth, and I will be training you along with him. If you have any questions feel free to ask."

Anthony winced, Arturia had unintentionally set up a cliche moment from any fantasy novel.

Immediately the students wanted to pepper her with questions.

"How old are you?"

"Do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend?"

"Will you marry me?"

Atruria to her credit remained calm and answered each question. "Like you all I am only seventeen. No I do not have a lover at the moment, but I am also not really looking with the threat of death hanging over my people right now. And that goes the same for marriage. How can I even think of such things, when we'll be bathed in blood over the next few years or so."

The way Arturia answered the questions… the class shut up and got super depressed. Like Meld, they had become victims of Arturia's foul mouth, all except for Anthony who was one of the only ones left standing, he glanced around to see that Hajime and Kouki of all people were remaining as well. Hajime he could understand, and Kouki as well since he was an idiot.

"Hoho, so three remain huh, not very impressive," Arturia chastised, "if only this is enough to discourage you, returning home might as well be a pipe dream." She was laying it on thick, without stopping, but Anthony knew what she was doing. She had to tell them the truth, otherwise they would never think of this as anything more than a game. It was do or die time, so erasing their small anxieties now would help a long way in the long run.

"Ok, Arturia that's enough, I know you're trying to help, but please stop for now. They have just arrived only yesterday, so pressuring them too much now will…"

Aturia turned to Meld and bowed, "I understand sensei." She then turned around and faced everyone with a smile, which brightened their moods instantly.

'This woman.' Anthony nervously thought. She was that good at controlling the mood, he wouldn't be surprised if she took Meld's job one day when he wasn't looking.

At the same time, Meld felt a shiver race down his spine, but for the life of him, he couldn't pinpoint the reason why.

"Enough chit chat for now, we have something for you all." Meld clapped his hands and servants began to pass out things to the students. They were metal plates 7 centimeters in length and 12 centimeters wide, while also being grey in coloring. "Everyone got one," Meld look around to make sure, "good, seems you all do." Meld went on to explain that the objects the students held in their hands were known as Status Plates, artifacts that could tell one their status, which includes things like physical strength and magic power. "Now for those of you with magic power the growth rates will be faster than others, but there are ways to remedy that."

Anthony raised his hand, "excuse me Meld, what exactly are artifacts?"

Meld smiled as he turned to Anthony, "young Anthony has a good head on his shoulders. Artifacts are things created long ago in times past. Objects of immense power, that no one in the modern age could possibly recreate, although the Status Plate is a special case. There are many of them around the world, and we even have a machine capable of producing them, these are from the latest batch created, so you all should feel a bit lucky." Meld even went on to explain that Status Plates are held by everyday citizens, so that was just how plentiful they were.

During Melds explanation. Anthony wondered if there was an artifact in Tortus with the capability to send them all home, with how vast the world was, Anthony knew the possibility wasn't zero, in fact this was what he wanted to do as a career in the first place, travel the world and explore ancient ruins, only now magic and monsters were in the mix. Anthony had to admit, even he was a bit excited at the prospect of seeing what Tortus had to offer.

"Turn your plates over, there is something on the back as well." Meld instructed.

The students turned their plates over to see a magic circle inscribed on the back, then… needles of all things began being handed out, which turned some of the students faces white.

"Prick your fingers and let blood drop onto the magic circle on the back of the Status Plate then it will be bonded to you, and tell you everything from stats to your job."

"Meld, job?" Anthony questioned again, wasting no time in pricking his finger to let blood drop onto the magic circle, a pit of pain wasn't anything new to him, seeing as some of his karate bruises had been much worse. One time during a match, he had his lip busted open on an accident, his face still hurts a bit whenever he thinks about it.

"Well, a job is what determines your role in this world. There are many of them, with some being general and some being rare. An example is combat oriented jobs, which only about 1 in 100 people are born with, while non-combat oriented jobs are more common. The skills associated with that job are what determines how you grow, but some skills can be learned as well. So sometimes it depends on the person themselves as well."

Anthony nodded along as his blood drop touched the magic circle, coming to life. Then the plate began to glow in a black almost obsidian color, making Anthony a bit nervous, the color was the same as the breath of the dragon he had met.

"Obsidian huh, it suits you… Anthony is it?" Aturtia asked.

"Yeah, but what is the color about," he asked her.

"Everyone has a mana color in this world, but I've never for the life of me heard of a person with black coloring."

"Guess that just means I'm special, just as Ehit said." He finished with a shrug, pushing up his glasses.

"Guess so," Arturia also shrugged, taking her own Status Plate out of her pocket.

Anthony raised a brow at it before turning to check on everyone else, Kouki's of course was pure white, Ryutarou got green, Shizuku was speckled blue, Hajime got sky blue which Anthony thought suited him, Kaori had Light purple. Turning to take a look at Yuka's group he saw her sucking her pricked finger like he expected of her and her plate was glowing a nice light brown almost resembling her hair color, Nana had dark blue, and Takeo had yellow like her eyes.

All around, he could see a veritable rainbow as all of his classmates activated their Status Plates.

"Excellent, excellent," Meld shook his head at the progress everyone had taken. "Now, Arturia if you would."

"But of course," she called everyone to look at her and held up her Status Plate, her mana a silver hue. "This is what a status looks like everyone, take it in."

* * *

_Arturia Ashworth, Age 17, Female, Level 50_

_Job: Paladin._

_Strength: 350_

_Vitality: 200_

_Defense: 200_

_Agility: 180_

_Magic: 350_

_Magic Defense: 350_

_Skills: Weapon Mastery (Sword Proficiency) - Elemental Affinity (Fire Proficiency and Light Proficiency) - Elemental Resistance (Fire Elemental Resistance, Light Elemental Resistance) - Increased Recovery (Health and Mana) - Herculean Strength - Limit Break_

* * *

The class was left speechless, that someone of their own age could be that strong, it made them feel just a bit better about training now.

"As you can see, although Arturia is the same age as you, she is far stronger," Meld proclaimed. "The averages stats humans begin with is ten, and they usually cap off at hundred, but with training the max you can make it is usually three hundred. I myself am level 62 and all my stats are in the three hundred grouping."

Anthony was now wondering then, why did Arturia have stats higher than three hundred, he didn't get the sense Meld was lying, but his statement just contradicted himself.

"Oh, and in case you're wondering why some of my stats are higher than Meld's it's because my job class is one of the rarest one's," Arturia stated, answering Anthony's burning question.

Meld then patted Arturia on the back and laughed heartily, "that's correct, my protege is a Paladin, a job class that is skilled in all arounding from fighting, to healing, to support. They usually possess the light magic affinity, which is rare you know as well."

Anthony compared the Paladin class with the standard one back in his own world in RPG games, Arturia's stats matched that. So without further ado, he took a look at his own stats to see how he measured up.

* * *

_Anthony Kuusha, Age 17, Male, Level 1_

_Job: Dragon Knight._

_Strength: 400_

_Vitality: 300_

_Defense: 400_

_Agility: 300_

_Magic: 500_

_Magic Defense: 500_

_Skills: Weapon Mastery (Sword Proficiency, Spear Proficiency ) - Elemental Affinity (Lightning Proficiency and Dark Proficiency) - Elemental Resistance ( Lightning Elemental Resistance, Dark Elemental Resistance and Fire Elemental Resistance ) - Increased Recovery (Health and Mana) - Status Resistance - Detect Presence - Detect Magic - Void Magic - Enhanced Senses - Night Vision - Appraisal - Language Comprehension_

* * *

Anthony began to sweat a bit, all his stats were fucken broken if he ever saw them, and he was still only at level one, he didn't even know what the hell Void Magic was, but the ominous names wasn't putting his mind at ease. He knew that if he showed his stats to anyone, he would be the center of attention, something he greatly wanted to avoid as he conducted his investigation into the truth of the word he was now in. the popes story was full of holes, like why the war even began in the first place, and why diplomacy was not an option, yeah to him it stunk something foul.

"So, how did you do Anthony," Hajime asked, coming over to someone he considered a friend.

"Oh, you know," he nervously said, showing his plate into his pocket. He trusted Hajime, but if anyone else were to glance at it, he was screwed, so for now he had to keep it on the down low. "So, what did you get," Anthony asked, changing the subject.

Hajime gave a small smile, then showed Anthony his plate.

* * *

_Hajime Nagumo, Age 17, Male, Level 1_

_Job: Synergist._

_Strength: 10_

_Vitality: 10_

_Defense:10_

_Agility:10_

_Magic:10_

_Magic Defense:10_

_Skills: Transmute - Language Comprehension_

* * *

"I see," Anthny sympathetically said, pushing up his glasses. Hajime seemed to have a job most RPGs would put as builders or makers, and his other stats were within normal human range. Well for a non-combat job, it may be that way.

Seeing Hajime look down, Anthony pulled him to the side a bit and showed him his own status plate, which made Hajime's eyes go wide.

"Why is-" Before Hajime could say more, Anthony clapped a hand over his mouthed, a quietly shoshed him. He did not want certain people (Kouki) finding out he was abnormal.

"Oh, young Anthony and Hajime, how did you do," Meld asked, walking over.

"Am I got Synergist," Hajime spoke, lifting up his Status Plate for Meld to examine.

" Well, these things happen," Meld mused in the same sympathetic tone Anthony did moments ago. "What's important is you can get stronger, so don't give up." Meld clapped a hand on Hajime's shoulder.

"Synergist, what even is that," Hiyama sneared, showing up with his cronies at the worst possible moment.

"It's basically blacksmithing, they can make things like tools and weapons," Meld answered, completely oblivious as to the reason why Hiyama was asking the question.

"So your saying this guy can only make things, what kind of lame ass power is-" Before Hiyama could finish, he was kicked in the balls. "Ugh," he gargled, falling to the ground, clutching his nether regions, Arturia standing behind his prone form with a dangerous look in her eyes.

"My, it seems I've just done the world a great service, I stopped a cockroach from spreading his seeds everywhere," she said in an ice cold tone.

"Arturia," Meld shouted, "attacking on of the heroes is-"

Arturia's hard glare silenced Meld. "Sensei I respect you, but for me to stand by while others insult another in my presence, that I cannot do. Punish me if you see fit, but I don't regret my actions."

"No,no, it's fine," Anthony said, stepping into the conversation. "Someone needed to put the ass Hiyama in his place, his dumb way of thinking needs to be erased now or he will die in the dungeon."

Hiyama tried to say something, but immediately covered his mouth, his voice came out as a high pitched squeal, meaning his balls hadn't fully dropped back down yet.

Anthony chuckled as he looked at the downed Hiyama finally getting a bit of what he deserved. Anthony then moved his eyes to look at Hiyama and all his cronies who were shaking a bit and using their hands to protect their own neither regions, afraid they would be next. "Listen all of you, how stupid would it be to fight with only combat-oritented jobs?" He questioned sarcastically. "Having non-combatants is just as important, not to mention having our own blacksmith to repair weapons and armor, is just as essential in having say a healer or a tracker. So stop ragging on someone who just may save your assess one day." Anthony finished, pushing up his glasses for emphasis.

"Well said, Anthnoy," Aturita commented, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

"No problem, been wanting to say that for a while now," he mused.

"Hey guys, check this out!" Kouki yelled excitedly, showing his Status Plate to all.

* * *

_Kouki Amanogawa, Age 17, Male, Level 1_

_Job: Hero_

_Strength: 100_

_Vitality: 100_

_Defense: 100_

_Agility: 100_

_Magic: 100_

_Magic Defense: 100_

_Skills: Elemental Affinity - Elemental Resistance - Physical Resistance - Advanced Sorcery - Swordsmanship - Herculean Strength - Armor Proficiency - Foresight - Increase Mana Recovery - Detect Presence - Detect Magic - Limit Break - Language Comprehension_

* * *

You know what, Anthony was not the least bit surprised by Kouki's job class, if he had somehow gotten anything else, he would have been shocked. Though now Anthony wasn't so worried about his broken stats, in fact he felt a bit sung knowing he could trounce Kouki in an instance if he so chose too. It was a satisfying feeling to say the least.

"Oh, Kouki you possess the Hero job, the strongest of all jobs, not only that but your base stats are a hundred right off the bat at level one, good for you."

'If Kouki is exceptional, then what the fuck am I?' Anthony sarcastically thought, Meld's words had just told him a lot, for his own class was not listed among the many given, and second, he was stronger than Kouki from the start, something he was sure if the boy found out, would make him pester Anthony to no end.

"Seemed to be a bit worried, aren't you," Arturia whispered into Anthony's ear, sending a tingle down his spine. "Is it because of your abnormal beginning?"

Anthony turned and grabbed onto Arturia's shoulder as fast as he could, gazing at her with nervousness. "How do you know about my status?"

"I saw you slip it into your pocket earlier, you really need to have more spatial awareness," she mused, acting as if the situation wasn't serious.

"Can you not tell anyone please," he asked Arturia who nodded really easily. Letting her go he wanted an answer as to why she was doing this.

"Because I see it too, that pretty boy is no leader, he'll most likely be the first to die, when you face real demons."

Anthony was shocked at Arturia's cold statement. He wondered if she was screwing with him or not, but her eyes did not waver. She was 100 percent dead serious.

"So, you can tell about his personality as well?" Anthony let go of Arturia who smiled at him. He knew he was going to get along with her for some reason.

"But of course, the only reason no one else sees it is thanks to his charisma, even Meld sensei who is usually a good judge of character is blinded by hope."

"Hope you say?"

"The hope that this small group of you can end this age long war once and for all."

Anthony tilted his head, "So, what is it you think will happen then?"

Arturia smirked, "I have no clue at all, but what I will say is that you all being brought to our world is some sort of omen, whether it's good or bad will depend only on time."

"I couldn't have put it better myself," Anthony responded with a smile.

"My word, a farmer!" Med shouted, which made Anthony pause. He couldn't believe the job of Farmer got that much attention, but with the way Meld was eyeing Aiko-sensei's Status Plate, he would have to correct his own assumption.

Things were not going to be dull for a long time.

* * *

**A/N**

**Another chapter done. Hope you enjoyed the job I picked, it'll tie in with the dragon, who should be making another appearance, very soon.**


	4. Chapter 4

"Well, never thought it would end like this, did you?"

"No, but at least we died saving our comrades, that's all I can ask."

Anthony and Arturia were sharing last words, for both were falling downward into an endless black abyss, to their deaths. Strangely neither was in the mood to cry, only to enjoy the silence in their last few moments, remembering all those they had left behind, but also, things they had wished to do before their time came.

"Dying so soon, not on my watch your not partner," the voice of the dragon Anthony had encountered previously rang out, shocking the falling pair. "I think it's time, I show you our true power."

Before Anthony could get a word in like last time, the dragon's voice disappeared, and then a moment later, and explosion of obsidian emanated from Anthony. The obsidian was so pure, it sparkled even in the abyss they were falling though.

As to how Arturia and Anthony ended up in their predicament, we need to go backwards a bit before we can continue forwards.

* * *

A group of wagons was rolling along a dirt path, and a person in the back of one of the carts pushed aside a curtain blocking out the sun to get some light. This person is Anthony, and he took a deep breath, enjoying the sunshine beating down on his face.

It had been a few weeks since the class had been summoned to Tortus and already their growth rate was unlike anything the kingdom and church had ever seen. Magic, weapons play, even teamwork, it was truly a gift from the heavens, they proclaimed. But there was still much to be done before facing the demons. For even though the class had good abilities and had become accustomed to their powers, they still needed to level up, as such an expedition was planned to a place where this could be accomplished. When the class asked where they were headed, they were told it was a labyrinth.

Now they were currently on the road, toward the Great Orcus Labyrinth, a place that had stood for thousands of years, and still held many secrets, It was a place the knights of the kingdom used to train their skills, as well as a place for adventurers to seek fame and fortune. Located near the town of Horaud, it was the single biggest challenge around, perfect for the summoned individuals to sharpen their skills.

"Anthony, could you close that please, not everyone is a morning person like you," Yuka mused, using an arm to block the sunlight from her eyes. Anthony was in the same art as Yuka, her friends, and Hajime, who could not ride with Kaori for Kouki would not allow it or something, and since non one else wanted to take him in, they got him.

Anthony really didn't mind at all. He and Hajime had grown closer over the last few weeks of training at the castle, often times spending their free moments in the library, researching the history of Tortus, for knowledge is always power no matter where you are. They had learned many interesting facts, but a lass they did not discover a way to return home, causing them both to strive to do it, no matter what.

"Anthony, please don't make me say it again," Yuka said in a threatening voice, pulling out knives. It would seem Yuka's job was Acrobat giving her high body coordination and deadly accuracy. Anthony was a bit scared of her now, but that was not the reason he closed the curtain. He did it to make Yuka happy, and for his smirk not to be seen. The fact that Yuka called him a morning person is laughable, for he was not in the slightest. No the only reason he got up early was because he wanted to get to school as quickly as possible so he could enjoy his naps, but ever since he had unlocked his job thanks to his Status Plate, he felt… different.

He noticed he had more stamina and energy than usual, his senses were sharp to an abnormal degree even to that of his fellow classmates, he felt as if he could stay awake for days without tiring and two things that made him a bit nervous. The first was that he felt his teeth had turned a bit more serrated, and that he had been hearing the dragons voice again, not in full but in whispers, and only when he slept. But now, the voice was becoming louder and even appearing during the day. Anthony wanted to stop it, but he didn't know how, and he was too cautious to tell anyone else. He knew what was happening with him was abnormal, but if he went to the church or anyone related to it, he had a sneaking suspicion he might disappear permanently. So the only choice he had remaining was to wait for the voice to get louder and clearer, allowing them to have another chat, and this time. Anthony swore he would get a word in.

Composing himself, he leaned his back against the wall of the cart and put his hands behind his head, "there you go, are you happy now," he asked Yuka playfully as he usually did.

"Yes, thank you," Yuka answered, placing her knives back in her sheaths. She then sat up and moved over to Anthony, leaning onto his side and snuggling into it for comfort. She was just happy everyone else was still asleep, otherwise she would be dying of embarrassment doing it in front of other people.

"Ara,Ara, what is this now, are you to being lovey-dovey this early in the morning?" Yuka's eyes shot open to see a smirking Nana wide awake and grinning at the two of them. "My, oh my Yuka, I didn't think you would be so bold, you really are maturing into a beautiful young woman," Nana finished, crying fake tears, with the grin still plastered all over her face. To say she was enjoying herself was an understatement, it was the most fun she had had since coming to Tortus, other than discovering her own abilities.

Yuka didn't retort, in fact she stayed completely silent. Anthony worried about her now turned to check on her, and when he did, he found… she had passed out, her face a beet red mess and steam coming out of her ears. The embarrassment had been too great for her to handle.

* * *

The entrance to the Great Orcus Labyrinth looked like the entrance to a dark cave that no one would enter without protection, but that's exactly where the party of kingdom knights and students were heading into, the sound of their weapons and armor clanking as they did. The students had been outfitted with only the highest grade equipment, curiosity of the Helleigh kingdom's royal treasury, they now looked the proper part of a party in a fantasy world.

Anthony had decided to go with something simple to match his class, for which he still found no information on, even when he scoured the kingdom library and asked Arturia to dig up any information on it, the results came up zip. Arturia finally suggested Anthony may have the unknown class since he came from a different world altogether, and while he thought it was a plausible explanation, he couldn't help but feel there it was more to it than that. However he had to put his search for answers on the backburner as the training trip to the labyrinth had been announced. Now he was walking with everyone else into the fray, his attire consisting of a dark colored long sleeve shirt, grey pants, black boots that ended just below his knees, a black coat that ended at his heels of his feet, and finally a broadsword sheathed across his back. He may or may not have taken his appearance from an anime character, but that is beside the point, he liked his attire and he wasn't going to change it.

"Ok everyone, here is the labyrinth," Meld turned to them saying. "Remember the rules, fight as a team, don't wander off too far on your own, and most importantly stay alive no matter what. And if you get into any trouble just call on us knights," he motioned to the knights around him that had been selected to assist in their training, " we will gladly give up our lives so that you may live."

The students now felt a bit heavy, Meld's word weighing their thoughts down.

"Meld thank you, but that won't be necessary," Kouki said, stepping forward, he then turned to everyone, dressed in hero like armor, "I make this vow here, all of us will survive and get stronger, then after we vanquish the demons we'll all return home together." His charisma was in full effect, lifting the students spirits in an instant, meanwhile Anthony was standing in the back with Hajime, and Arturia thinking how naive Kouki was being, making a declaration he couldn't possibly know he could keep. It's not that they wanted anyone to die themselves, but the three of them were just realists is all.

In unison all three sighed, seeing as their no possible way they could change the current situation, the only thing left to do was to go with the flow. And so, the party entered the labyrinth with Kouki's speech finished.

Once inside Anthony found the place, a bit beautiful. Glowing green rocks of all sizes and shaped adorned the walls of the labyrinth, illuminating it for them.

"You all should know, that is labyrinth has been recorded to have a hundred floors, and we'll be conquering them all. It is the final test before you face the demons," Meld spoke, as he continued to lead the party from the front, keeping an eye out for the first batch of monsters that may appear.

"But Meld-sensei, not even we kights have conquered all 100 floors" Arturia chimed in, also being vigilant of her surroundings, "in fact, the only floor we've made it to is level 65 you know."

Meld let out a hearty laugh as he usually did, "well that's true, but with the powers these children possess, I am quite sure they will succeed where we failed and conquer the entire labyrinth."

Right after Meld finished making his declaration, they appeared. The knights stopped and drew their weapons, forming a semi-protective circle around the students, as they all heard a rumbling sound and scratching noises. Looking forward the students jerked back a bit, currently making their way towards them were green creatures with tusks on the underside of their mouths, wearing nothing but tattered clothes as clothing and carrying club weapons. They were reminiscent of orcs from the students home world.

"Orcs, so soon," Meld cursed a bit. He was not expecting a monster of such might to make itself known so soon, at least not on the first floor of the labyrinth, but it seems fate had other plans. He would just have to trust in the training he gave the students and support them to his utmost. "Alright," he shouted, glancing back at them, "this is your first challenge, those are orcs, savage beasts who want to do nothing more than pillage and destroy, your job is to defeat them-"

"Kill." Aturia spoke, stepping up to the front and shooting her sensei a disapproving glare. "My sensei means that to get stronger, you must kill the orcs, here and now. Otherwise, leave this labyrinth right now." Aturia shouted coldly, never taking her eyes off the enemy. She then unsheathed the sword at her side, and began to emit a cold aura, which caused some of the class to flinch back in fear.

Meld wanted to correct his protege, but for the life of him, he couldn't, he knew without a doubt she was right, to win the students had to dirty their hands with monster blood. Though he wanted to ease them into it, killing was no easy thing to do. Still, he felt ashamed for letting his emotions take over, this was battle after all, a single mistake and they would all die.

Before anyone could comment on Arturia's words they saw a figure jump forward and race toward the orcs, it was Anthony with his sword unsheathed, the metal of it glinting from the light of the labyrinth walls.

Without missing a beat, he sliced the throat of an orc clean through, it's blood spraying all over the place, drenching the cave. He felt a bit sick at first, but the feeling began to pass, then Anthony jumped back, so as to not be smashed into the ground by the club of the orc nearest to him. Moving back to his class he turned to face them, shaking his sword so that the warm blood would fall off. Their eyes were filled with worry and fear, but Anthony faced them with steel in his. "What are you all doing, don't you want to get stronger," he shouted, pointing to the orcs charging behind his back, "well this is what it's going to take. Now as Arturia said, if you can't hack it, then you can go back to the in and wait, otherwise fight! It's what we were brought here to do!" Anthony knew he sounded harsh, but this was a perfect chance to deliver a wake up call to some of his more disillusioned classmates.

No one said a word, until, "Anthony is right," Kouki ever trying to be the leader stepped forward with his own sword unsheathed. "What else were those weeks of training for, if not to take on this challenge?" He asked his classmates. "If Anthony can do it, then so can we." WIth that said, Kouki jumped forward as well, delivering a slash with his hero sword to the nearest orc, felling it instantly. "With me, everyone!" He shouted, leading the charge.

Anthony had to admit, although he hated Kouki's very existence, the guy was a good motivational speaker, with only a few words, the rest of his classmates began to regain their bearings and moved into attack. While some used martial skills, others used their magic. Hajime surprisingly was good at using Transmute to build barricades for shielding, watching their flank along with Kaori who was a healer, something she seemed to enjoy immensely if the look in her eyes had anything to say about it. Meanwhile Anthony was watching the back of the frontline fighters keeping a particularly close eye on Yuka and her friends, but also Hiyamaa, for although he had been acting good since his ball smashing, Anthony still didn't trust the prick as far as he could throw him, and he could throw him quite far, he was sure of it.

The battle which left like hours (in reality 20 minutes) finally ended, all orcs dead and the students happy they had survived their first real monster encounter. While Anthony was holding a shaking Yuka in his arms, he felt a tap on his shoulder, turning around he spotted Arturia, with not a speck of blood on her or her sword.

"Nice work back there, taking charge and all," she patted on the back in congratulations.

All he did was release a sardonic chuckle, "thanks, but that was just me bluffing, I was this close to vomiting when I killed that orc," he made a small gesture with his fingers to emphasize the point.

"Don't worry about that," Atrutia leaned into the pair so that no one else could hear what she was saying, "this isn't a big secret, but everyone feels that way the first time they take a life, whether monster or race. The important thing is to never let it consume you, sometimes it's either you or them and nothing can change that." Arturia then winked at them, before walking off to talk with Meld.

"She's… quite interesting, huh Yuka?"

"Yes, she is something," Yuka said with a spaced out voice. Anthony looked down to see a small blush on Yuka's face, he couldn't believe what he was seeing, looking up at Atruria's backside, he knew his earlier statement to be true, she was really dangerous, in more ways than one.

* * *

As the weeks went by the group cleared more and more levels of the labyrinth, level up at an astounding rate, in the meantime Anthony was mapping as much of the dungeon as possible, looking for any clues as to who built it, when he asked Meld about it, he explained the name of the labyrinth creator had been lost to the ages, a mystery worthy of a budding archaeologist such as himself.

Also a thing to note, Anthony had noticed Hajime getting a bit more comfortable around Kaori, he explained that she apparently came to his room the night before they first entered the dungeon and voiced her worries, so in a cliche hero fashion, Hajime had vowed to protect her, which explained his sudden interest in growing as strong as possible. He too had leveled up quite a bit, now being able to use his Transmute skill to create traps for the monsters and simple weapons, he was not the quickest to grow, but he was progressing.

Vice versa Anthony began to notice a certain thing, Arturia was sticking close to him, quite a bit in fact. If he was single it would have been a dream, but he was with Yuka so the attention made him a bit uncomfortable, but everytime he tried to talk to her about it, she skillfully avoided the subject. So rather than push it, he allowed her to do as she pleased, if she did more than stick close to his side, then they would have a conversation about it.

"Alright, we've made so much progress in so little time," Kouki bellowed, walking along the path of the dungeon floor. He was extremely happy that they were already on level 25, they were a quarter of the way down, which was a huge achievement in his own book.

"Yes, all of you are making excellent progress," Meld spoke, walking at the front with Kouki, an arm on his shoulder. "If we keep up this pace, all of you will make it to the hundredth floor in no time at all."

"Thank you Meld, we'll continue to do our best."

While Kouki and Meld were chatting it up in the front like old friends, Anthony was in the middle with Arturia, Yuka, and Hajime. They had decided to form a makeshift grouping for today, seeing how they had a good balance with close range, longer range, and a supporter.

"Arturia, your sensei is really chatting it up with our resident dumbass, isn't he," Anthony whispered, so as to not gain the other students ire, but he had noticed that they had changed since being summoned to Tortus. The other students had begun to actually get to know Anthony and Hajime, right after Hiyama's public trouncing, not to mention the fact that this type of scenario was their speciality, seeing as how the both of them were otaku. Things had been looking up, except for the small fact the boys were jealous of Anthony for getting with Yuka, but he flipped them the middle finger and went on, he was happy so they could suck it.

"Yes, sorry about that," Arturia apologetically spoke, her head downcast a bit, "it seems Meld-sensei sees a lot of himself in young Kouki, which is blinding him to the boys obvious problems."

"What problems do you mean," Yuka inquired, having been listening to the whole conversation.

Anthony and Arturia gained complicated expressions, while they knew Yuka to be trustworthy, disclosing Kouki's problem and childish mindset might make her think they were just ragging on him, so they became trapped between a rock and a hard place, so to speak. It was then their eyes met at they knew only one plan would work in their current situation.

They looked at Yuka with mischievous smiles, and both went in for the attack, Yuka is quite ticklish, especially at her sides. The two of them double teamed her, causing her to laugh so hard she began to cry. Hajime could only stare with an apologetic expression toward Yuka, he didn't want to face the wrath of the "Sadist Duo." which was what Anthony and Arturia had become known as during these past few weeks in the dungeon. There teasing had sent waves of terror through everyone around them, even Kouki was not immune to it. So a decision was unanimously made, never piss those two off.

"What was that you were saying Yuka?" Anthony mused, tickling her with no end in sight, with a sly grin on his face. Arturia mirroring his actions didn't need to say anything, he had already said it for both of them.

"Nothing,nothing, just stop already, I give," she laughed out, her face going a bi red from the lack of oxygen. Seeing as how she was done asking questions, the two of them stopped, allowing her to catch her breath. Placing her hands on her knees to steady her swaying body, she took deep breaths as she sent the two a dirty glare, but they turned their heads away pretending like nothing happened.

"Meanies," she huffed out, her cheeks puffing up again.

"Hey, no lagging behind," Meld yelled, turning around to see what the hold up was. When he saw the scene he felt a shiver raced down his spine, and quickly faced forward pretending he didn't see anything at all.

As the party continued on, they cleared another few floors.

Anthony moved back to avoid a monster's claws, "Hajime," he shouted, hearing a familiar sound behind him. The charging monster fell into the pitfall and was skewered by transmuted rock spears, not enough to kill it, but enough to immobilize it. Anthony then conjuered a small lightning bolt and blasted it into the hole, killing the monster and raising his level. He wiped his brow in mock exhaustion, needing to keep up appearances and all.

"Thanks Hajime," he said, turning around to greet him with a smile.

"No problem, it was my pleasure to help," he nervously said, rubbing the back of his head with a blush on his face. This sort of praise was a new thing for him, as opposed to being hated or ignored.

"Need any healing," Kaori asked, walking up to the pair. They both shook their heads no, they had taken down their foe without injury.

"Excellent work you two, really nice teamwork." Kouki bellowed, coming over after having just defeated his own foe.

"Thanks." Anthony managed to say, as the bain of his existence clapped him all friendly like on the shoulder. They weren't friends though, not at all. Anthony's strained tone should've told Kouki, but as always he smiled and ignored everyone else's feelings but his own.

"Causing trouble again I see," Shizuku mused, walking over to join the group.

"Nothing of the sort," Anthony said, he honestly hadn't done anything in the last few moments. As the group reconveined after their battles, they noticed a shining blue crystal like substance above them.

"What is that crystal," Kaori asked, enamored by its beauty, "it's so pretty."

"It's known as a glom's crystal," Meld said, walking up, "though finding one of this size is pretty rare. It's not magical, but it is pretty popular in the use of engagement rings and other types of jewelry."

"Agh," everyone turned to see Hiyama on the ground, clutching his knee in pain. Arturia standing behind him.

"This idiot," she pointed to him, "was about to climb up and grab the glom crystal just like that. What if it's a trap, were you not paying attention at all when sensei said glom crystal of that size are rare!" Arutira shouted, wanting to beat some sense into Hiyama.

"Shut up."

Everyone looked at Hiyama, the words that just came out of his mouth, laced with venom.

"Hiyama, exactly what is wrong-"

He turned to Kouki with a look of pure rage in his eyes, "I said shut the fuck up, you useless pretty boy hero! All of you should fuckng die!" Hiyama was letting out a slew of stark raving comments after another, it seems that he had finally broken,

"So you broke huh," Aturia commented, not showing any surprise at all in Hiyama's development, she had always known he was scum, but now all of him matched. Standing up he glared at her with vengeance in his eyes.

"Quiet bitch, don't you know who you're talking to!"

"A spoiled brat who thinks he's something, but really, he's only shit."

Hiyama snarled like a raving animal, pushing himself up against the wall. "Die, you whore,just die," he then turned to face Anthony's group again, "and you Nagumo, go die in a fucking hole!"

"Geh!" Hajime was quite shocked, while he knew Hiyama's hated him, he didn't know it was to that extent.

"Young Hiyama, calm down," Meld asked, taking a step forward, which caused Hiyama to back up even more, skimming up the rocks a bit.

"Stay back, fucking all of you!" He seethed, as everyone moved closer to his person.

"Hiyama," Kaori spoke in a caring voice, "do you need healing?"

Hiyama turned to face Kaori, a new expression taking shape on his face, It was one of obsession and sexual desire. It was so overpowering, that Kaori backed away as Hajime, Anthony, and Shizuku moved in front of her to protect her from his gaze. ""Out of my way, Kaori is supposed to be mine!" Hiyama roared like a madman.

"You know what, you need a time out," Anthony said in a dangerous tone.

"Fucking die Kuusha! It's all your fault I'm like this!"

"How so," Anthony plainly asked.

"If you had just let me end Nagumo I wouldn't have ended up like this! That little shit, receiving all of Kaori's affection, he doesn't deserve it!"

Anthony got a blank look on his face, he then calmly pushed up his glasses, "hey lunatic did you or anyone ever maybe think that Kaori has a thing for Nagumo and that's why she's talking to him all the time and showing him affection?"

… The question invoked dead silence, until…

"Anthony, how did you figure it out," Kaori shouted with a blush on her face. That proved it without a doubt, she had feelings for Hajime.

Everyone was shocked, but the most shocked of all was Hajime, he couldn't have foreseen this in his wildest dreams. That the idol of the school would be in love with him, it sent his heart into a tailspin.

Meanwhile Hiyama's face cracked. "NO!NO!NO!" HE violently shouted, climbing up the rocks foaming at the mouth like a madman. "I WON'T ALLOW THIS, NOT AT ALL!"

Before anyone could stop him, Hiyama placed his hand on the glom crystal and magic scripts began to emanate in the air around it. Everyone was then engulfed in the light of teleportation and transported to a bridge, when they looked around they saw they were in an unfamiliar part of the labyrinth.

"Now die, you scum!" Hiyama began a hysterical laugh, until he heard a noise behind him. Turning around, he was just in time to see a giant foot close in on his body, stomping it into a bloody paste.

"A Behemoth, form up!" Meld commanded, as the knights formed ranks to protect the students, while they tried to process the fact Hiyama had not only just tried to kill them, but how he had just died himself.

The Behemoth roared as it charged forward, throwing out earth element attacks, the knights doing everything in their power to block the attacks. But to no avail, most were forced back by the earth, falling over in defeat.

Anthony seeing this charged forward from the back, to protect his classmates closer to the front of the monster's rampage. Specifically, Hajime and Kaori who were still trying to process what Hiyama had done.

"Move back you dumb fuckers!"

Anthony looked for the source of the appropriate but vulgar words, and lo and behold, there she was, Aturia in the front with her sword at the ready, all ready having cast the light spell Luminous Rain, which caused light orbs to rain down on the Behemoth, actually doing some damage.

Hearing Aturia's words the students began to move back, running for the other side of the bridge leading back up to the upper floors, while the knights and Anthony covered them. "Come on, come on." Anthony hurriedly thought, as everyone moved behind him, he even saw Hajime and Kaori pass by, holding hands in fact, he knew it the worst possible time but he was happy for them, finally airing their feelings out in the open. Then he looked forward and lo and behold, the idiot Kouki still hadn't retreated, Anthony twitched his brow in anger, he had had enough.

"Kouki, go with the other," Meld ordered, as everyone was slowing moving back from the Behemoth.

"No, I can finish it here," he protested, getting ready to launch his most powerful attack he was sure would fell the best, until he felt a punch in his back that made him dry gag.

"You idiot!" Kouki turned his head to see an enraged Anthony glaring at him, for what reason, he did not know. "This is not the time to play hero, if you fucking stop to think for five fucking moments, you could see Meld has some sort of plan!" Anthony raved, he then decided to screw it, Grabbing Kouki by his shoulder, he tossed his ass to the other side of the cavern, where everyone else was waiting. Though he hit the back wall with a thud, Anthony had made sure not to kill him, he was just unconscious, not dead, he hoped.

"Wew, nice toss," Arturia quipped, jumping back as she avoided the Behemoth's strikes. Everyone else though, had no words at all, though if anyone looked Hajime's way they could see a small smile gracing his face, at Kouki getting just what he deserved.

"Thanks, now let's go." Looking around to make sure everyone else had made it their side of the bridge, Arturia and Anthony began to run, while they could see magic circles being conjured ahead of them. The pair could already see what Meld's plan was, and it was pretty great.

With a motion of his hand, Meld gave the order to fire, and just like that a barrage of spells were released at the Behemoth, causing it to convulse in pain from the damage it was taking, and stalling it long enough for Arturia and Anthony to reach the other side of the bridge.

"Keep firing, don't let up!" Meld ordered with all his might, hoping it would last until Arturia and Anthony were safely to them.

But just as the pair was about to cross onto solid ground, the bridge shook with a rumble. The Behemoth had decided it was not going down alone, it stomped with all its might on the bridge, creating massive tremors and cracks, weakening the frame. Then with one final stomp, the bridge began to fall apart.

Anthony having already made it to everyone turned around, and saw Arturia wouldn't make it, so with no hesitation he jumped to her and picked her up princess style, intending to jump right back, however it seems fate had other plans for the two of them. The Behemoth somehow shot out a rock blast that injured the two, causing them to wait to long before making their return jump, before they knew it, they two were falling into the abyss with the Behemoth, looking up at the faces of their comrades, one last time before death.

"Anthony!" Yuka screamed at the top of her lungs, as he and Arturia fell deeper into the darkness.

The two of them gave smiled one last time, so their friends would remember them that way,

They had no idea of the journey they had just begun, one that would shake the foundation of their lives forever.

* * *

**A/N**

**Another chapter done, and I changed some things up, such as Hiyama dying early and Hajime and Kaori getting all lovey dovey as well. As I stated before, this is not Hajime's story, but rather Anthony's. So he is the main character, and as such we will focus on him.**

**But don't worry, Hajime isn't being thrown away at all. He will still have a role to play.**


	5. Chapter 5

Two figures laid unconscious in a dark cavern, only surrounded by a small glow of light. It was Anthony and Arturia, completely and utterly unharmed from their fall earlier, it was as if a miracle had occurred.

Suddenly Anthony began to twitch, then his movements became more full, before his eyes shot open. But they were much different than before.

His dark brown eyes were now slitted like a lizards, giving off a heavy presence, and a mysterious glow as well. Slowly pushing himself up, he took in his surroundings with caution, he had no clue where he was, and did not feel eager to attract the attention of anything that might be lurking in the dark depths.

"Heh?"

Anthony quickly looked down to his side, Arturia was beginning to stir, slowly opening her eyes. But before she could do anything else, Anthony placed a hand over her mouth and leaned down to her ear.

"Shh, I hear something," he whispered.

Arturia stopped struggling to escape Anthony's grasp and did as instructed. He had saved her life once before, and even though she couldn't explain how, she trusted him to see her through this new ordeal as well.

Taking a look around, Anthony's eyesight saw the cave as if the sun itself was right there, everything looked so clear and in color. He assumed with was his Night Vision skill at work. Surveying the cave with trepidation, he spotted the source of the sound, and swallowed a lump in his throat.

He found himself looking at a creature from a nightmare. An all white rabbit with blood red lines traveling it's body and blood red eyes, with hind legs built for a bird. It was eating something, but then… it suddenly stopped and turned in Anthony's and Arturia's direction, it choosing to bare it's monstrous smile at them.

'Shit, what do I do?!' Anthony thought, the monster had sensed them and was going to likely attack, but he had never heard of a monster like he was seeing before, and he wasn't sure the two of them could defeat it.

"**Kid, calm down, you'll make mincemeat out of that thing."**

Antthony and Arturia went wide eyes of hearing the same draconic voice from before. He who had saved them, was now assuring them that they wouldn't die.

But before they could ask any questions, the rabbit let out a blood curdling yell and made it's moves.

Faster than their eyes could see, the rabbit seemed to vanish in a small pocket of wind and appear right in front of them. It's body radiating bloodlust. As it bared down on the pair, it happened…

Anthony reacted on pure instinct. His vision seemed to slow to a stand still pace, capturing the monster rabbit as if as picture frames. Using one arm to shield Arturia whose face was flushed with terror, he raised his other toward the monster and uttered a single word.

"Burst."

The monster was ripped apart, as a bolt of obsidian colored lightning ripped right into its chest, sending the beasts green blood and entrails all across the ground.

When the moment passed, the rabbit crashed to the ground with a thud.

Dead.

A silence permeated the scene. Anthony examined the obsidian colored lightning sparking across his palm, blatant curiosity in his gaze. Arturia as well was observing the lightning sparking across Anthony's palm, only her face showed amazment, and relief at not having her life ended. But they soon found that they did not have time to celebrate.

"Raaaaahh!" A deafening roar shocked them out of their stupor, turning their heads to the side, they saw a bear with the same color scheme as the rabbit Anthony had just felled, charging toward them.

"Move!" Anthony sprung to his feet, dragging Arturia with him by her arm. He then pushed her in front of them as they began to run from their monster pursuer.

As they did, Anthony's head darted back and forth, not only keeping an eye out for any other strange monsters, but also looking for a place to escape to from their pursuer.

"**Kid over there."**

Anthony turned his head to where the dragon spoke, he saw a small opening that could fit both his and Arturia's stature. "Arturia, there!" Anthony pointed to the small opening, and Arturia nodded her head, changing her direction and heading towards it.

Anthony then felt a chilling sensation run down his spine. Turning his head around for a brief moment, he saw the bear monster launch some sort of attack, it swung it's claws down and blades materialized out of thin air, shredding the ground and heading straight for Arturia.

'Oh no you don't!' Anthony without hesitation jumped into the path of the oncoming attack, his arms crossed, hoping his body could withstand the hit long enough for Arturia to reach safety.

"**Are you an idiot," **the draconic voice sarcastically asked in a rage, **"you're about to die!"**

"Tell me something I don't know!" Anthony shouted back, knowing he probably seemed insane talking to himself, but not caring at the moment. "But this is the only way to save Arturia's life. She'd do the same for me!"

"**No you idiot, that's not what I mean." **The dragon huffed. **"What I mean is, why aren't you using my power?!"**

Anthony's brow twitched in anger. "This is not the time to be fucking asking me that, you ass! Besides, I don't know how to even use whatever it is you gave me in the first fucking place!"

"**... Right, sorry about that." **Anthony felt his brow getting tighter, he wanted to strangle the oldman dragon he was talking to, really badly. **"Well anyway, here's a little gift from me to you, partner. We can talk more after you kill that weakling."**

"Hey, wait just a fucking-" Anthony didn't get the chance to finish his sentence, his mind was overcome by images, and as before with the lightning, he knew exactly what needed to be done.

He lowered his arms to his side, and all around him, the shadows began to condense. Just as the bears attack was about to strike him, the shadows formed a barrier, swallowing it whole.

The bear then stopped in its tracks. It could instinctively sense, the opponent in front of it was far more dangerous than at first glance. It turned the other way and prepared to run, only to have its hind legs sliced off with shadow blades.

The bear screamed in pure agony, before a small shadow blade pierced the underside of it's chin, giving it a quick death.

Anthony walked up to the dead bear, the shadows having dissipated from around his person. He then leaned down, and slung the corpse of the bear over his shoulder, acting as though its weight and size were nothing at all.

"Am, Anthony?"

"Hm?"

"What is that?" Arturia asked, not believing what she was seeing.

She scrambled into the cave a few moments earlier with all her might, not afraid to admit she was scared for her life. Once inside, she was met with another impossible sight, dripping into a small puddle was liquid Ambrosia, and above it, was a giant Divinity Stone.

Ambrosia, a life giving fluid said to cure all illnesses, and the Divinity Stone, the stone said to produce such liquid. Arturia had only heard about them in legends when studying, but now she was before the real thing. She scrambled over to the puddle on her hands and knees, then scooped up a bit between her palms and drank some.

She immediately felt revitalized both mentally and physically. "Works as advertised, huh."

"Let me try some of that."

Arturia spun around to see Anthony, crawling into the cave completely unhurt and lugging the corps of the bear that was just about to make them their dinner, like it was a pillow. She could only ask why.

"It's dinner, obviously," Anthony said, placing the corps against the cave wall, and then crawling over to her to take a drink of Ambrosia himself. "Ah, that's the stuff," he mused, as the liquid traveled down his throat with ease. He now felt completely refreshed.

"...Am, what is going on with you?"

Anthony turned around to see Arturia with a completely and utterly confused look on her face. "That's what I would like to know as well. So, care to come out and explain everything, mr. old ass dragon."

Arturia would've assumed Anthony was going crazy, but she had no doubt in her mind. She too had heard the strange voice earlier, and was thankful that is saved them. But for it to be the voice belonging to a dragon… Arturia made a note to herself, stop being shocked by every small thing, she had a sinking feeling things would only get weirder from that day on.

"**Who you calling old ass dragon, you brat," **the dragon yelled, coming to life.

"You obviously," Anthony pointed out. "I mean, you are old as hell, aren't you?"

"**No you damn brat, I'm ancient!"**

Anthony and Arturia both got blank looks on their faces when the dragon answered. They both thought at the same time, 'What's the difference?'.

"**The difference is old means a grandpa or someone who gets on your nerves, but ancient means respected and dignified, which is what I am. So respect me," **the dragon ordered, sounding a bit smug.

"Yeah, sure." The both of them answered in unison, their voices being deadpan.

"**... I feel like we're having a miscommunication here."**

"No, we got you," they again answered in unison, using the same deadpan voices.

"**... You know what, let's just move on for now."**

"Thank you," Anthony said. "Now, maybe you can answer the questions I've had since I first saw you during the summoning ritual." He was really hoping the dragon would stop being stubborn and help him fill in the blanks.

"**Of course. Now listen well, because what I'm about to tell you may be hard to believe."**

"Try us," Anthony said, sarcastically.

"**As you wish. First off, I'll begin with my name. I go by many. Void Dragon, the dragon that lives in the netherworld, but from looking through your memories partner I've found out what I'm called on your home world. There I go by Kur."**

Anthony was glad he was not drinking anything at the moment, because he would have definitely spit it out when the dragon finished telling him his name.

"Anthony, who is this Kur?" Arturia questioned.

"Well it's like this. Kur is the name of an ancient beast of legend from my world. It is said to be a dragon that lived and ruled the void, the place between the sea and land unseen by normal people. In other's it refers to Kur as ruler of the netherworld, the place between life and death. But in all the legends, it speaks of Kur's power and might, depicting it as a mighty beast only the strongest heroes can fell."

"**NIce job kid. Seems your world knows how to show me some respect." **Kur spoke smugly, causing Anthony to get pissed off again. He had a feeling he would be doing that more often now, all thanks to his partner.

"I see." Arturia nodded her head. "And mr. Kur."

"**Just Kur is fine, young one."**

"Kur then. Why is it you are, inhabiting Anthony?"

"**Another good question young lady. To put it plainly, I'm a demi-god. A being of immense power that has been alive for centuries, I've seen and done things that would make your heads explode. However, sometime ago I got into a… let's call it a predicament. My physical body was lost, but my spirit remained. However, it could only remain in the void, the space between worlds. And let me tell you' it's boring as hell there. So deciding I did not want to spend eternity in that place through much time and tribulation I came up with a simple solution. I could leave the void, but only if I found a host."**

"You mean someone to control like a puppet, right?" Anthony asked a bit angrily. He did not like becoming someone else pawn, and he was not going to let it happen again, not with this Kur.

"**Relax kid, it ain't like that."**

"Then please, enlighten me on what it is like?"

"**You know usually I would be berating you, but seeing all you've been through in the past few weeks I'll give you a break. The long and short of it is, I don't possess my host, not at all. I merge my soul with there's, and we have a sort of symbiotic relationship and mutual partnership."**

"Really?" Anthony asked, still a bit skeptical.

"**Really kid. If a host doesn't want me, I leave immediately. But if they do want me to stick around… the stories I can tell you."**

"Ok, I see now. But that still doesn't explain why I was chosen?" Anthony questioned.

"**As for that, the reason is rather simple. You see I can only bound to a person with a specific spiritual wavelength, one that matches my own. When you and your classmates were forcefully pulled into this world through the void I sensed you immediately, and decided you seemed like a decent guy, so I hitched a ride and here we are now."**

Anthony nodded. Kur's story made some sense, and he couldn't sense any ill will in the dragon's words, he seem genuine, but Anthony couldn't shake the feeling he might still be getting played.

"Let's trust him." Arturia spoke, grabbing Anthony's hand.

"What?" Antony said, looking at Arturia's face with utter surprise.

"If he wanted us dead we would be dead. Instead he's saved us three times now. I don't think a bad person would do that, so Anthony," she squeezed his hand a bit tighter,"let's trust Kur."

Anthony thought about Arturia's words. She was right, he had saved them, but still…

"Listen, even if you don't trust him, then trust me." She then leaned in a bit closer, their faces being only separated by inches. "You trust me, right?"

"... Yeah, I do." Anthony sighed. "Alright then, if you ask me to trust Kur, then I will."

"Thank you." Arturia flashed a smile.

"**Fufu, girl you should kiss him now while you have the chance."**

Anthony's and Arturia faces both went bright red. They pulled away from each other quickly, and pretend what Kur said just didn't happen.

'**Boy you should take her right now. I know you can smell it.'**

'Ignoring you.' But Kur was right. Ever since he had awakened since falling into the abyss, he felt all his senses and even his body had been enhanced. He suspected to dragon levels, and for a while now he had been smelling a very distinct odor from Arturia… arousal.

He admitted she's beautiful, but he had Yuka waiting for him back on the surface. So, he couldn't do it, no matter how much every fiber of his being was telling him to do so.

'**Hehe, boy what do you know about dragons?'**

'Only what I've read in books, and learned from playing games.'

'**Yes, I can see your world is intrigued by my kind. But that's beside the point. The point is, your soul is now part dragon, and dragons are beings of power and lust. Meaning having more than one partner is normal. And I would think you would enjoy having your very own harem, you'd be like a protagonist in those manga and light novels you seem to enjoy.'**

'I can tell you're enjoying this way to much.'

'**Fufu, maybe I am, who can really say. The point is, you'll start attracting more women left and right, so you better decide how to handle it and quickly.'**

'About that, why did you only decide to fully awaken now? I've been trying to contact you for weeks.'

'**... I'll be honest with you partner. The first part is that you and your friend were about to die, I couldn't let that happen. But the second… back at that place called the church, I sensed something… evil.'**

'So you found that place off as well?'

'**Yeah. And let me tell you whatever being is who calls himself god, it isn't. That thing is more like me, a being of immense power, but still killable. I don't know why it's controlling this world, but I have this nagging feeling if you want to get home, we may end up having to take it on.'**

'Fucking great. Now I have a self proclaiming god on my ass.' Anthony sarcastically thought.

'**Well them's the breaks kid.'**

'Did you just you a reference from my world?'

'**Sharing a mind and soul, remember?' **Kur deadpanned.

'Right?' It was then Anthony felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and came to face with Arturia.

"Am, I was just wondering…" she averted her gaze a bit, "what should our next move be?"

"**You should head deeper into the labyrinth." **Kure spoke, surprising the pair. **"And before you ask me why. I can sense something of great power below us. I don't know exactly what it is, but Anthony, it may be something that could be a clue to help you return home."**

"Really?" Anthony was a bit ecstatic now. If what Kur was saying was true, then going to the end of the Orcus labyrinth may give him answers to why and how he was brought to Tortus. Only… he looked over at Arturia. He couldn't bring her with him, the monsters on the lower depths were on a different league, and he couldn't in good conscience put her in danger.

"Arutria. I'll take you back to-" Before he could finish, Arturia placed a finger on his lips, surprising him.

"Don't even think about it mister. Your in this mess because of me, so the only fair thing I can do it see it through with you to the end." Arturia spoke, no room for argument. She was firmly planted in her desire to stay by Anthony's side.

"I understand, but the monsters. At your level-"

"**Oh, I know a simple way to deal with that."**

Anthony did not like the mischievous way Kur was speaking, not at all. He was even more pissed at being interrupted again, he was really going to have some ground rules with Kur.

"What way," Arturia asked.

"**Simple, you'll become a dragon."**

…

"What!" Both yelled in unison, completely shocked.

"**Yeah, partner take out your Status Plate and have a quick look, I'm certain you won't be disappointed."**

* * *

"Ok." Anthony pulled out his Status Plate, and almost dropped it after seeing his new status.

_Anthony Kuusha, Age 17, Male, Level ?_

_Job: Dragon Knight._

_Strength: ?_

_Vitality: ?_

_Defense: ?_

_Agility: ?_

_Magic: ?_

_Magic Defense: ?_

_Skills: Weapon Mastery (Sword Proficiency, Spear Proficiency ) - Elemental Affinity (Lightning Proficiency and Dark Proficiency) - Elemental Resistance ( Lightning Elemental Resistance, Dark Elemental Resistance and Fire Elemental Resistance ) - Increased Recovery (Health and Mana) - Status Resistance - Detect Presence - Detect Magic - Void Magic - Enhanced Senses - Night Vision - Appraisal - Language Comprehension - Dragonfication - Draconic Soul - Direct Mana Manipulation - Draconic body._

* * *

"OK, just what is happening here?" Anthony held his head in utter confusion, not only were his level and stats now immeasurable, but he had obtained new skills, and he hadn't done a thing to gain them.

"Atavist," Arturia whispered.

"An Atavist?" Anthony questioned, scratching his head in confusion. "Arturia, mind explaining here," Anthony asked.

"Yes. Well as you know in Tortus we use magic circles to direct our power, however for Atavist that is not the case. Not only do they possess high amounts of mana in general, but like monsters they have no need for magic circles and can directly manipulate their mana to weave spells. I even hear that most of them possess a unique magical ability or other, making them quite formidable."

"Ok, but why haven't we heard of these Atavist since we've been here? I mean I read most of the books in the royal library and I didn't hear one mention of them."

"Not surprising. Most people think they're just myths and legends. But we knights are taught differently. Atavists are real, but exceedingly rare. That's why you all haven't met a single one since being brought here."

"Got it. Thank you."

"**Excellent job girly, and now it's my turn again."**

"And here we go," Anthony sarcastically spoke.

"**I'll ignore that jab you just made. Now, as I was saying Anthony, your status is now like this because I have fully awakened, once that happens, I can't go back to hiding. Meaning we're now going to be like this. However, that doesn't mean I'm heartless. With my soul fully out and about, your growth rate will be exponential , so much so the Status Plate you possess can't measure it. Not to mention, in time you will be able to shift into dragon form. Pretty cool, right?"**

Anthony didn't want to admit it, but Kur was helping him out big time. This new power he was given was just what he needed to make it to the end of the Orcus labyrinth, and turning into a dragon… he won't lie, it was cool.

"It is cool, but what does this have to do with making Arturia stronger?"

"**Easy. Let her drink some of your blood."**

"Huh!? Why in the fuck does she have to drink my blood!?"

"**Kid calm down. Sheesh, if you're going to be like this every time I reveal something to you, you'll be losing your hair in no time."**

"Not the time old man!" Anthony yelled, still confused at the situation.

"**Ok,ok. The reason Arturia has to drink your blood is because of a special technique I've perfected in the void. Using your blood as a catalyst I can convert her into a Dracoman, a demi-dragon. With this her growth rate will be akin to your own from now on, but she won't be able to transform though."**

"Ok, now I understand." Anthony nodded. He then turned to Arturia. "So, how do you want to do this?"

Arturia didn't say anything, she just looked down at the floor, the dripping Ambrosia being the only sound in the small cave.

"Hello?" Anthony leaned in closer to Arturia. "Anyone ho-" Anthony didn't get to finish. Arturia pulled him into a kiss. He was about to push her off, when he felt a pain on his lip, he realized Arturia had bitten into it and was drinking his blood. He had no clue why, but he had to admit, he found it hot.

He hoped Yuka would forgive him when he saw her again.

She let him go after a moment, crawling back into the cave wall with a face dyed pure red. Anthony then touched his lip, and found he didn't feel much pain, and that the wound was already closing up. He now had to admit it, being semi-dragon was awesome.

"Kah!"

"Arturia!" Anthony rushed over to her, her body began to flail about, she even grabbed her chest.

"Hey, talk to me," Anthony said, holding her head in his arms. "Are you ok?"

Arturia turned her eyes to Anthony's as they began to switch from human to dragon rapidly. She then grabbed his face with both hands, and brought his down for another passionate kiss. He wanted to break away, but for some reason he couldn't, and he became swept up in her passion.

* * *

A good while later…

A fire had been started, and the bear monster meat was cooking over it. Kur had informed Anthony on how to remove the impurities in the blood making it edible for humans, so they wouldn't gain monster qualities or something like that. Anthony then created drinkable water for them, so everything was ready for the night.

Except…

They were stuck in awkward silence.

Anthony and Arturia were not even able to look each other in the eye after what had transpired, while Anthony watched the meat. Arturia sat in the corner near the Divinity Stone, her face buried in her knees, still beat red.

It was a good thing they had the Ambrosia, because Arturia looked ready to pass out at any moment.

'**Uh this is pointless, you're going to be traveling together so you might as well talk about it now.'**

'Shut up Kur, it's all your fault for not saying something before,' Anthony seethed.

It seems during the dragonification process, the person's body undergoes a hyper state, meaning everything about them from senses to hormones. And when Arturia who already harbored feelings for Anthony entered the process, the pheromones she began to release, needed to be answered.

'**Fine, I'll admit it. It was my fault for not warning you both about it. However, my statement is correct, if you don't talk about it now then it will be a problem later.'**

Anthony hated that Kur was right.

"Arturia, can you come over here for a second?" Anthony called, hoping she would at least be able to sit near him.

Arturia got up and went over to Anthony, but she still didn't look him in the eye. "Yes?"

Anthony rubbed the back of his head, a blush on his face, "Listen, about what happened. Am, it was um…" Anthony couldn't find any words to say, he had never even thought he would end up in a situation like the one he was in.

"My first time."

"Eh?!" Anthony yelled, shocked. "That was your am…" Anthony coughed into a closed fist, "... well first off, sorry about taking it. Second… you were quite… good at it." Anthony whispered the last part, hoping Arturia did not make it out.

"Thanks."

He cursed to himself, she heard it.

"But listen," Anthony lifted his head up, "about it. The truth is, I'm ashamed."

Arturia's head shot up from between her legs. "What, why would you feel the need to be ashamed?! It should be me who's ashamed!"

"I noticed it, your fledgling feelings for me. I also know you held back because of Yuka, but now I feel really bad. You were experiencing something, and during it, you came on to me. I should've been the one to push you off, but I didn't, and I think the reason, no, I know the reason is, I have some small feelings for you as well." Anthony laughed in self-deprecating manner. "Some boyfriend I am, first time another girl comes on to me and I go for it. Really, I am shamele-"

SLAP!

Arturia came over and slapped Anthony right across the face. "Stop talking like that right now!" She yelled. "You're not a horrible person. In fact, you may be one of the bravest people I've ever met. You care about others, you take charge when others are scared, and you do things that have to be done. So hold your head high Anthony Kuusha, you are a decent person."

Anthony held his held up, and began to laugh.

It was so infectious even Arturia got caught up in it, and thus they didn't even realize they had repaired their relationship.

* * *

Anthony and Arturia had come a long way since their fall into the depths.

For the first few days after their transformations they trained, killing the creatures which rained from animals type like wolves, and bug types, to which Arturia screamed in horror when seeing. Apparently bugs were not her speciality at all, she completely obliterated them when they encountered them.

Anthony couldn't stop laughing after he first saw her reaction. But they did make progress. They even discovered materials the surface hadn't even heard of such as Taur stone and an abundance of Blast Rock.

Once they had gotten accustomed to their new bodies and skills, and collected enough materials to sustain them such as fur coats from bear monsters, glow rock to light their way, more monster meat, and materials to build traveling equipment like the bag they used to carry the divinity stone in, they set out.

They had to admit it, the labyrinth was difficult but easy for them to progress. The range of monsters they encountered as they went further down allowed them to hone their combat capabilities to new levels, thinking outside conventional tactics. And now they had come to something unexpected.

The pair stopped in front of a pair of giant ornate looking doors with two cyclop stone monster guards standing outside it.

"Well, this is interesting." Anthony mused, a hand on his chin.

"Yeah, but it proves your theory. Someone really did construct this place," Aturia said, leaning on Anthony's shoulder.

Ever since their accidental tryst the two had grown more comfortable with each other and formed a bond. Anthony was finally at peace with it, he had already come to terms with facing Yuka again after he escaped from the labyrinth, and Arturia would never let him run away either. That, he knew for sure.

"**Hey you two, there's something wrong here," **Kur spoke.

"What is it." Anthony asked Kur, walking a pit closer to get a better look at the doors.

Anthony had come to trust Kur over the last few weeks for certain, he could feel the dragon was his partner no matter what.

"**I can't sense anything beyond the doors. It's like a void, ironice I know, but really, I'm not getting anything at all, which tells me something either very powerful or very dangerous is beyond this point," **Kur said, a bit of worry in his voice.

"We'll be fine," Anthony said, his tone casual. He went up to the doors and tried to push them in, but as soon as he touched them, he heard a cracking sound.

"You had to say it," Arturia sarcastically said.

"I know, I know," Anthony mused, jumping back to Arturia's side.

As he landed, the cyclops made of stone showed their true selves. The stone casing around them broke, revealing red and blue twin cyclops, alive and ready to fight. They went after Anthony and Arturia with their massive clubs, but the pair easily jumped back, evading them.

Anthony smirked, "I get it now."

"Yes, I see as well," Aturtia said, a smirk on her face as well.

They noticed that the two cyclop did not move far from the doors they were protecting.

"I got left," Anthony said.

"Then I will take right," Arturia answered.

The two then split apart to take on their perspective opponents.

Anthony ran forward, dodging another club swing from his cyclops opponent, getting in close he conjured up shadow blades with his void magic, a skill he had become extremely proficient in in recent weeks. Directing the blades with a wave of his hand, he ordered them to skewer the cyclops, but as soon as they touched its skin, they were repelled. Taking in the cyclops Anthony noticed why, a shining metallic pattern was all over its body.

"A defensive skill huh," Anthony mused, jumping back to dodge another overhead club strike. "No problem then."

Anthony will all his anime knowledge, and skills had developed many new techniques, and now was a perfect chance to try out one of the more… volatile ones, just to see if it was effective, not because Anthony wanted to be like an anime character and cause untold destruction, nope, not at all.

Taking a page from the Raikage of Naruto Anthony manipulated his mana and coated his body in his obsidian lighting from head to toe. Then moving as a blur, he was instantly in front of the cyclop's eye. "Sorry pal, but we need to see what's behind door number 1." Anthony said, as he focused lightning into the palm of his hand, and willed it to extend outward, creating a lighting blade that pierced right through his opponent, even embedding itself into the back of the cavern walls.

As Anthony moved back to land on the ground, the body of the cyclops thankfully fell backwards, and began to dissipate, leaving behind a blue orb, that Anthony judged was what he needed to open the door in front of him. But before he could even more to pick it up, he heard a crash at his side, turning his head, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Arturia had just finished off her own opponent, walking over to collect the red orb it had left behind.

"Don't scare me like that," Anthony said, walking over with the blue orb now firmly in his hands, "I thought you might've been in trouble."

Arturia flashed Anthony a playful smrk. "Don't worry so much, if I'm ever in real danger, then I'll shout your name to the heavens."

"And I'll come every time," Anthony answered. He knew very well it was a cheesy cliche, but as long as it made Arturia happy it didn't matter to him. He then turned his head toward the doors, "now let's see what prize we've won."

* * *

The doors creaked open slowly, showing their age, stopping just enough to let in a small amount of light from the entrance way, but not enough to illuminate the whole place, luckily Anthony had the night vision skill, and Arturia conjured up light balls using her magic, so they had no worries.

Slowly stepping into the room, they were met with complete and total darkness, the silence incredibly eerie for both of them, even with their enhanced abilities and powers.

"**You guys, something powerful is right in front of you," **Kur spoke, finally able to get a read on the room after the door was opened, and with that, his suspicions were proven to be true.

Anthony and Arturia directed their gazes forward and were then met with the most unexpected sight imaginable, a woman.

Now that the room was better illuminated they could make her out. She in her twenties, with elfin-like facial features, milky white and clear skin, long golden flowing hair, red eyes, and a sizeable chest, along with wide hips, and to top it all off, she was stark naked, suspended in the air, her arms and legs trapped in some sort of cubed shaped object.

"**Well, you don't see this everyday," **Kur said, shocked at seeing such a site, even for him, this was a first.

"Is she… alive," Arturia questioned.

"Please, help me," the woman spoke, her voice pleading out to them.

"Well, that answers your question." Anthony said, as they continued to approach the woman, stopping only a few inches away from her.

"Hello there," Anthony said, "My name is Anthony, and this," he pointed a finger to his right side, "is Arturia, who might you be?"

"I… I don't have a name, not anymore," the woman said, her voice filled with sadness and despair.

Sensing that her name was a sensitive subject, anthony decided to move on.

"Then, if you don't mind me asking, how did you come to be down here?"

"I was betrayed. Long ago I was the ruler of the vampire-race, their queen, but because of my immense power, my people grew scared of me," she began to shed tears, "one day I was tasked with exploring this labyrinth, making it all the way down here, and that's when it happened. They betrayed me, and sealed me in this place, and here I have sat for the last 300 hundred years, alone in the darkness." She finished.

"Why did they seal you instead of killing you," Anthony asked, a rage burning in him. He wouldn't even wish this kind of existence on his worst enemy.

"I'm an atavistic vampire, my special power is Auto Rengernation," she answered.

"Meaning, you can't die right," Arturia asked, also becoming enraged at the scene.

The woman shook her head. "That's right, as long as I have magic power and a piece of me remains I'll keep regenerating over and over again, no matter what. Decapitation, starvation, silver, stabbing my vital organs, nothing will work. And that is why I ended up like this. So please," the woman's head shot up, a begging look in her eyes, "save me, I'll do anything, just please help me."

"... Kur, do you know of anyway to break whatever the hell this thing is sealing her in place," Anthony questioned, having already made his decision to free the woman.

"**Yeah I do. Just pour void magic into this baby, and it'll crack like an egg." **Kur finished.

"Huh?" Anthony said, confused by what Kur meant.

"**You know what, maybe I am getting a bit old," **Kur nervously said, **"You see the thing is, void magic is a lot more versatile than what you've been using it for."**

"Oh really," Anthony asked, anger showing in his voice.

"**Now, now, before you get all upset I'll properly explain things. *Ahem* You see void magic is no ordinary form of darkness, it is akin to the darkness of the universe itself. In layman's terms that means this magic is all encompassing, taking in any and everything, why it can absorb magic, physical attacks, even extinguish the strongest light itself. And with this thing that runs on magic power, just absorb enough of it, and your done."**

"Ok then." Anthony said, rubbing his palms together before placing them on the cube. "Arturia step back for a second, I don't know how this thing it going to react to me screwing with it."

"Sure," Arturia said, taking a few steps back, having complete faith in Anthony's abilities.

"Here we go then." Anthony summoned his mana, his body glowing obsidian, his eyes glowing yellow, and shadows spiraling around him. As he pumped more and more mana into the cube, it began to creak and break, as small vestiges of shadow energy began to leak out. When he felt he had enough for one final push, Anthony shot all his mana in at once, the cube shattering and the pieces being absorbed into the darkness itself, leaving no traces behind at all.

Once it was finished Anthony felt to one knee, catching his breath, while the woman fell a few feet to the ground, on her knees.

"Well, that was interesting," Anthony said, still a bit surprised that he had obtained that much power in so little time, it was surreal when he thought about it.

"Am, Anthony, are you ok?" Arturia asked, coming up beside him.

"Yeah, just great," he said, standing up a moment later. He then turned his attention toward the woman, who was lying on her legs, her hands supporting her body, but a smile on her face.

"Thank you both," she said in joy.

"No problem, so, now will you tell us your name," Anthony asked, trying very hard not to look at the woman's bare assets, they weren't as big at Arturia's, but they were still quite lovely in his humble opinion.

"Name."

"Huh?"

It was then Anthony felt a smack on the bach his head. "She wants you to give her a name, idiot."

"Right, right," Anthony said, rubbing the spot where Arturia smacked him, with her enhanced draconic body it actually hurt.

Looking at the woman again, she had her hand outstretched like a dog waiting to be petted. "Um, how about Yue then?"

"Yue?" Both girls questioned in unison.

"Yes, Yue. It's a term from my world, and it translates into the word moon. I think it's a good fit for her, because of her porcelain clear skin, and golden hair." Anthony explained.

"Yue then, I'll take it," Yue spoke, a blush easily visible on her cheeks.

"Glad you like it then," Anthony said, scratching his cheek in embarrassment.

"Hey." Anthony felt a cold sweat begin to race down his back slowly he turned to his side to come face to face with a smiling Arturia, but her eyes weren't smiling at all. "So, this is your true color, huh mr. pervert."

"I'm not a pervert," Anthony retorted.

"Really? Then why have you been letting Yue sit on the floor naked these last few minutes, hm?"

"Your the same," Anthony said, but Arturia just ignored him.

"Give her your jacket, now?"

"Fine." Anthony grumbled, taking off his jacket and placing it around Yue's shoulders.

When she realized the situation, she had only one thing to say. "Anthony and Arturia, perverts."

"We're not!" Both yelled in unison, Anthony because he was not, and Arturia because she did not ever wanted to be labeled as such.

"**Hate to break up all this flirting, but troubles headed our way, fast." **Kur said.

Completely ignoring about the comment about the three of them flirting, they all put up their guards.

It was then, that out of the ceiling dropped a scorpion monster, and it had them firmly in their sites.

* * *

**A/N**

**So as I said, a few things are changing, for one, Yue is not a loli, no she has the same appearance of when Ehit is possessing her body, and sorry if I've spoiled anything for anybody, but if you want to finish the series read the web novel, at novelupdates . com.**

**Anyway, the reason I did it this way is because I like adult Yue, and this will tie into the other changes I'm making, so be patient, and if you don't like it, no one is forcing you to read anything.**

**As always, review and comment.**


	6. Chapter 6

The scorpion monster released a loud roar, shaking the air as it did, landed its sights on a still prone Yue who it marked as the weakest of the bunch currently in front of it. With speed impressive for its size, the scorpion began to scurry over to her, intending to end her quickly so it could focus on the other opponents.

However… that is not how things went.

The scorpion was stopped in its tracks, shadow tendrils entrapping it, pulling its body down to the ground like it weighed absolutely nothing.

Yue shocked by this turned her head back around, in doing so she was met with the sight of Anthony, his obsidian mana flowing around his body, and his dragon-slit eyes glowing a bright yellow.

"Hey pal, attacking a defenseless lady, for that you die." With a snap of his fingers, Anthony conjured an obsidian portal under the scorpion which immediately began to swallow it up, no matter how much the beast struggled, it could not break free from its impending fate. And after a few moments, the beast was gone, the portal closing behind it, like nothing had happened at all.

"Wew, that was a workout," Anthony nonchalantly said wiping his brow in playfulness, even though no sweat at all was coming down his face. "Aturia, if you please," Anthony asked, holding out his hand toward her.

"But of course," she said, reaching into the bag at her side and handing him a file of ambrosia, which he guzzled down in one gulp.

With that done, he was completely revitalized.

Still on her hands and knees, Yue had only one word to describe the two in front of her.

Strong.

It finally occurred to her that she had met some interesting people, something that brought to her face something she hadn't experienced in a long time.

A big smile.

* * *

"Wait a minute, so your over three hundred years old, want me to call you granny then," Anthony joked, only to earn another slap to his head from Arturia.

The three after having defeated ( Anthony single handedly massacred) the scorpion monster checked the room for any more surprises, but there were none. However they couldn't be sure it was safe to make camp there, so they set up at some nearby rocks. Once they had all gotten settled by the campfire, Yue began to share more about herself, even the fact she was a master spellcaster who could toss out high rank and composite spells like candy.

Anthony also then realized her true age, and couldn't help but make a joke, however… the glares he was getting from Yue and Arturia told him how bad he had fucked up.

"Don't you know it's rude to comment on a woman's age," Yue chided.

"Honestly, why did I fall for such and idiot," Aturia sighed, shaking her head.

"**I'm with the ladies on this one partner, you went too far," **Kur said, having already introduced himself to Yue earlier, so she wouldn't be freaked out when he spoke out loud.

"Ok,ok, I get it, just stop," Anthony asked, his head down feeling a bit shameful.

"Your forgiven," Yue said.

"Thank you," Anthony beamed, clapping his hands together, a wide smile on his face.

"**By the way, Yue, what are you going to do about your people," **Kur questioned, eliciting confused looks from the group.

"Am Kur, buddy, are you sure your not going senile," Anthony asked, pushing up his glasses. Somehow they didn't get broken in the fall, and although his eyesight was enhanced to the point he didn't even need them anymore, he refused to take them off, they were just that big a part of him.

"**I'm not senile." **Kur stated. **"There are more vampires in this world other than ms. Yue here."**

"Stop lying," Yue shouted in anger, She now knew the truth, her people had been long dead for three hundred years thanks to Anthony and Arturia giving her the information, and this dragon was saying otherwise right to her face, even if her people had betrayed her, she wouldn't let anyone make fun of them, no matter who it was.

"Kur, explanation." Anthony urged through clenched teeth, feeling Yue's cold gaze on him.

"**But of course. You see when I bounded with Anthony's soul in the space between worlds I scanned the inhabitants of this world, just to see who was residing here."**

"You can do that!" Anthony bellowed, amazed at all the abilities Kur possessed still.

"**Who do you think you're dealing with here," **Kur questioned, his tone smug. **"I'm an ancient being who has lived longer than most planets, I've seen and done things that you wouldn't believe, scanning a world undetected is child's play for me."**

The group didn't say anything, only blank expressions painted their faces as Kur let his out his smug personality once again.

"**I can tell what you're all thinking you know." **Kur stated. **"But moving on, when I scanned the inhabitants of this world I stored their unique magic signatures in my memory, and some matched ms. Yue's, so I can only conclude that they too are vampires."**

Yue after hearing such a statement didn't make a move. For her hearing she was not the last of her kind, that others like her were alive, that they had survived to this day… she didn't notice when, but her face felt wet, reaching her hand up, she finally realized she was crying, crying tears of joy.

"Kur, d-do you know where they are," Yue choked out, hoping for an answer, yet scared at the same time.

"**Unfortunately no I don't. I could only get a general sense of them, and if I were to try for a more in depth search, that "thing" would most definitely pick it up."**

"Thing?" Arturi and Yue, said simultaneously confused.

Anthony sighed. He was trying to put this off as long as possible as to not traumatize anyone, but now with Kur's admission he had no choice but to tell the truth, lest he risk alienating his companions. "I have something to tell you both." Anthony said. And so, he told them what Kur had relayed to him about the being in the church, who Anthony had a sneaking suspicion was Ehit.

"...I see," Yue said, a blank face.

"So, that's how it is huh?" Arturia said, anger in her voice.

"Atruria, I'm sorry for keeping this from y-"

"Huh, Anthony what are you talking about?"

"Huh?" Anthony countered. "Aren't you mad at me for lying to you for these past few months?"

"Huh, why would I be-" It was at that moment Arturia realized why Anthony was apologizing, she was radiating bloodlust and anger, putting two and two together she gasped. "No Anthony it's not because of you at all." She moved over to him, and kissed him lovingly on the cheek, eliciting a smile from him.

It was also during that moment that Yue licked her lips, a predatory gaze focused on the two in front of her, but neither seemed to notice.

"Really?"

"Really," she reassured him. "It's just, if what you say is true, then what have my people been dying for all time what, and what is the church who has supported us all this time really? I need answers to these questions."

Anthony took Arturia's hands in his own, giving them a gentle and loving squeeze. Looking into her eyes, he kissed her nose. "Don't worry, we'll find the answers out together, I promise."

Arturia didn't say a word, she just leaned into Anthony's embrace.

A sickeningly sweet pink zone had been created, and if anyone else saw that, they would throw up rainbows at the sight. That was just how sweet it was.

"Anyway, time for dinner."

When Yue said those words, both Anthony and Arturia felt shivers race down their spines, craning their heads in her direction, they saw she was looking at them like prime meat.

"Am, Yue, if you want dinner, take some of the meat," Anthony nervously said, pointing to the fire where the meat was warming on a spear.

Yue shook her head. "Not right now, you see for me to fully recover I need blood."

"B-blood you say," Arturia said, beginning to get a small cold sweat down her back.

Yue nodded her head, standing up and throwing off Anthony's coat, her well developed body bare for all to see again. "You see, although we vampires can eat normal food, but blood it what gives us most of our power," she took a step forward, "not to mention, drinking it raises our combat abilities," she took a few more steps forward, "and as you know, I haven't had any blood in some 300 years, so I am quite thirsty, not to mention," she licked her lips again, "I have never tasted dragon blood before."

It was at that moment Anthony and Arturia knew they were pray headed for the slaughter, they only had one option left, complete and utter retreat. Looking at each other in the eye for a split second, the message was exchanged, they both then proceeded to try and make a run for it, even if one was caught the other would escape, at least, that is what they thought.

Yue was having none of that.

With blinding speed to tackled Anthony with her naked body, and in a blur of motion grabbed onto Arturia's wrist, stopping her in her tracks.

The two looked at her with eyes saying, "So you're not really that weak at all, are you?!".

Even seeing this question, Yue just flashed a cheeky smiled and licked her lips again. "Thanks for the meal."

Before either could protest, she yanked Aruria into her and Anthony, and they fell in a pile on the cavern floor, Yue on top of them both.

The screams of the two lovers kept all manner of monsters away all night, for they could instinctively sense if they went to where the screams were originating from, they would encounter a monster even more terrifying than themselves.

* * *

The mood in the palace had been somber and depressing for weeks now, ever since the deaths of Hiyama, Arturia, and Anthony, the students from Earth had been in a state of despair, mourning the lives of their lost comrades. But a select few had been hit harder than anyone else.

Meld showed sadness, but also anger, pushing himself during training to the point of blisters forming on his hands, and wounds accumulating on his body, even when the other knights tried to get him to stop, he rebuffed them. He felt he deserved this pain, not only for failing to protect young Anthony, but also his protege Arturia. She had come to the kingdoms knight order at a young age, and since Meld was not married and had no children, he had secretly come to view her as a surrogate daughter. Everyone knew this, even Arturia, and yet they said nothing, allowing Meld who sacrificed so much for them to have that one bit of happiness, that was the least they could do for him. But now with Arturia dead, Meld only felt one thing, regret.

He regretted the fact that he had never told her how much she meant to him, he regretted the he would not see her take over his position as knight commander either when he retired or died on the battlefield, but most of all, he regretted letting her die. So with a new resolve to not let any of his other charges from Earth die, Meld was pushing his body and soul to the limit to make his dream a reality, this he swore.

In Hajime's case, he had lost a dear friend. Anthony had always been grouped with him in the otaku pool, yet he never once refuted it and ragged on Hajime with the others in the class. On the contrary, Anthony stood up for himself easily, and even encouraged Hajime to do the same. Even so, all Hajime did was smile and nod, listening to Anthony's advice but never acting on it. Well, that had changed.

Even though Anthony perished, Hajime thanked him one last time. He had given Hajime a chance to be with Kaori, revealing her true feelings for him in front of everyone, since then, the class had backed off in their bullying, making it non-existent, even Hiyama's group didn't take a word to them, though considering what their supposed leader and friend had been and done, they had no right at all to say one single word.

Thus since returning to the kingdom, Hajime, other than spending time with now girlfriend Kaori, had been training like crazy, developing new ways to use his synergist class to help those in the labyrinth succeed and become a person who could protect Kaori on his own.

Since that fateful day in the labyrinth, Yuka had basically been a shell, she did all the things to sustain herself like eating, bathing, and sleeping, but gone was her once cheerful and upbeat personality, the only thing left were hollow eyes.

Even her best friend Taeko and Nana had no idea what to do or say for her, Yuka had lost the boy she loved right before her eyes, what could you say to that.

Currently she was sitting with other students in one of the castle's dining halls, eating her lunch like a machine on auto pilot, just going through the motions so she wouldn't waste away.

"You guys," Nana spoke up, "I don't think we should return to the labyrinth."

"What, why?"

"Yeah, why not?"

Her classmates questioned, forcing Nana to show a saddened smile.

"No offense to all of us, but come one, compared to Kouki's group and the others we aren't progressing nearly as fast."

All students present then gained complicated expressions, what Nana was saying was true and they knew it, they were just dragging the stronger students down.

"But even so," a classmate hit the table his frustration showing, "what are we supposed to do then? Just wait here in the safety of the palace, and let the others do all the work!"

"No, we won't. In fact, we were thinking of taking on another mission," Taeko said.

"What mission is that," a classmate asked.

"Protecting Aiko-chan," Taeko stated.

Their sense Aiko who possessed the rare non-combat class job farmer had been making great strides in improving Tortus's agriculture know how as a whole, gaining praise from people of all walks of life, because after all, people needed full stomachs to fight with all they had.

But even though Aiko received such praises, she still tried to perform her duties as a teacher, and the students guardian to the best of her abilities, even more vehemently after hearing about what transpired in the labyrinth with Hiyama and Anthony. That had sent her into a rage, or as much as one as she could muster, she then began to demanded all the students cease training immediately, but it fell on deaf ears. The church ignored her, but they knew they couldn't continue to do so, not with Aiko's popularity rising as it was.

So with that in mind, they came up with a plan. For Aiko to travel around the northern continent spreading her techniques in agriculture to all, and allowing her to be seen by the people she had helped so much, in layman's terms, it was a PR tour akin to one on earth. During this tour, Aiko would be out of the way, allowing the students to continue training without her worrying, and to top it all off, all her bodyguards were incredibly handsome men who adored her.

The students soon realized the church's true intentions, a reverse honey trap on Aiko, to bring her to their side permanently.

Taeko stood up from her chair. "We can't let them have Aiko-sensei, so who is with me?" Taeko asked, her resolve firm to protect her child-like teacher.

"... I will do it."

Everyone turned their gazes toward Yuka, who had just uttered those words, the first she had in a long time.

"Ah Yuka, you don't have to-"

Nana was cut off, Yuka turned to her with a smile, and gave her a hug. "Thank you, thank you both." Yuka said. She knew why Nana and Taeko wanted to go with Aiko-chan, not only to protect her from the churched honey-trap but also so Yuka wouldn't have to face the place that took her beloved from her. Honestly, she couldn't think of any better friend to have.

With Yuka in, the rest quickly agreed, and so the students split into two groups, one to protect Aiko on her journey, and one to continue training in the labyrinth to vanquish the demon threat.

Neither group of course knew what would await them in their futures.

* * *

"Finally, we're here," Anthony said.

Over the last few weeks the group of three (four if you count Kur) had been traversing the remaining floors of the labyrinth, and it had been one strange encounter after another. A horde of T-rex dinosaur monsters, a spore controlling monster that took the shape of a human woman, and there was the fact that Yue had been snacking on Arturia and Anthony any chance she got like they were her own personal blood banks.

That wasn't even the worst of it. Yue had been… changing since being freed from her imprisonment. For one she would rant on and on about revenge while killing monsters, and second, she showed no shame in making moves on the couple, always trying to entice them into a threesome. They had been able to resist thus far, but with Yue's natural maturity and sex appeal, they had no clue how much longer they could hold out, and Kur encouraging it didn't help at all.

But now they had reached it, the final trial of the labyrinth.

"And your sure this is it, Kur?" Anthony questioned.

"**For the last time kid, yes this door will lead you to the final trial. The strong magical presence I sense is just beyond it, so hurry up and clear it so you can enjoy these two blonde beauties without restraint." **Kur finished.

Anthony gained a tick mark, Arturia a heavy blush, and Yue just licked her lips in anticipation.

"Did you really have to go there?" Anthony asked.

"**Let me give you some advice I heard from one of my hosts a long time ago. A man is not a man if he doesn't eat what's in front of him." **Kur proudly stated, elation in his voice.

"That host was a pervert, right." Anthony asked.

"**She sure was, and had one of the biggest harems to boot, male and females included."**

As they heard the words, both Arturia and Anthony rushed forward and pushed opened the doors to the final trial, ignoring the hot sensations running throughout their bodies.

As the doors opened inward, the group was met with an open air, paved with stone, pillars going down both sides, and nothing at all in their path. That is until, an enormous magic circle appeared, producing a hydra-like monster with three heads.

"One for each of us," Anthony said.

"Let's finish this, I really need a path." Arturia said, flaring her mana. Even if she was a knight, she was still a teenage girl as well.

"Yes, let's get this done and over with," Yue agreed.

Each of them went to face off against one of the heads. Anthony on the right, Arturia in the middle, and Yue the far left.

Anthony called forth his shadows, forming blades and commanded them to attack, his snake head, they rushed forward intending to do so, only to be stopped by a barrier of light. As the attacked stopped, the snake raced forward, intending to end things quickly.

Anthony coated his body in obsidian lighting, racing forward to meet the head, head on. As they clashed, Anthony noticed something, his punch did not do a very big amount of damage, only peeling off a small number of scales and spewing green blood all over the ground.

'Could it be?' He had to make sure. Taking a quick peek at Arturia and Yue's battle, he figured it out.

Yue cast the ice spell Mirror Mirage, a defensive spell that enshrouded her in mist, right before her snake heads beam attack hit her. Passing through the mist, the attack didn't even come close to hitting her. Following that, a giant ball of blue flames rained down from the sky, striking the snakes body, this was one of the strongest fire spells, Azure Flame, and one of Yue's favorites. As the attack hit, the snake head roared in agony, falling to the ground.

Arturia was having it easy as well. Her head got in close and attempted to trap her in a mind prison, but thanks to her new draconic body, such weak mind tricks would not affect her in the slightest. She brushed it off and cast Luminous Rain, a light spell that conjured forth many light balls and rained them down on the opponent. The shower of light, blew the snake-head back.

"I see now," Anthony said. "Hey girls listen up," he yelled. "Each of these heads has a speciality unique to them, mine is defense, Yue's is attack, and Arturia's is mind. But what they boast individual strength, makes them lacking in all other areas."

"Understood." Both girls answered in unison.

Seeing their chance, all three went in for the finisher. Yue cast Azure Flame once more, this time more powerful than the last, and landed a direct hit on her opponent. Arturia used the light spell Aura Force, condensing her magic energy into a white sphere and launching it at the snake head, blowing it clean off. Finally Anthony used Plasma Bolt, a high ranking lightning spell Yue had taught to him, allowing him to conjure plasma to attack his enemies, but this was no ordinary plasma, like his lighting it was pure black as it raced through the air and sliced the opponent in two right down the middle.

Simultaneously, all three heads fell to the ground, defeated. The monster then vanished in a pile of light particles and the door behind it swung open. The three walking into the light they saw ahead.

* * *

"This place is, amazing." Arturia mused, taking it all in.

The three had walked through the open doors only to discover a pristine sight, a mansion, surrounded by a forest, with plant life and even running water, all in working order.

"I guess must be where the creator of the labyrinth lived," Anthony said, astounded by the sheer size and scope of everything around him. He could only think that whoever built the Orcus labyrinth was a true genius.

"Pretty," Yue said.

The three traversed the place finding many things, a hot running bath that made Arturia giddy, and outdoor bed that made Yue licked her lips scaring the couple, and even fruits growing on trees in the nearby woods. No matter how they looked at it, the place they were in should be impossible.

"**You three, go to the top floor of the mansion, that's where I sense the magic presence from," **Kur said.

Following his instructions, the three entered the mansion. At first they tried some doors, but no matter how much they tried, the doors would not budge, and seeing as how wasting mana when they had no clue what could be lurking was a bad idea, they finally proceeded to the top floor, coming face to face with a sight at strange as Yue's.

Engraved on the floor of the room was a magic circle formula, and sitting in a chair directly in front of it was a skeleton. It had been dead for a long time judging by the decay, but the strange thing is, it was fully clothed. The skeleton was wearing all black, from the boots to the jacket, a white cuff being the only thing distinguishable, that and the ring it was wearing on its right hand.

"So, he must be the creator of the labyrinth," Anthony said, judging from the clothes that it was a man's skeleton they were looking at.

"Ok, but, why is he sitting like that, it's kinda creepy," Aturia said, having never seen a skeleton like this before in her life. "He even died with his clothes one, and they don't look degraded even after all this time. Really, who was this guy?"

"Well, only one way to find out," Anthony said, walking forward and stepping into the magic circle.

Once fully inside of it, the magic circle lit up, glowing a bright red.

"Agh!" Anthony screamed a moment later, his memories flashing before his eyes, as he bent forward, clutching his head in pain "What the hell is happening here!?"

"Anthony!" Arturia and Yue screamed, about to rush in to help him.

"**Both of you stop!" **Kur commanded, stopping the pair in their tracks. **" I did a quick analysis of the magic circle, it's not lethal at all, it's just looking through Anthony's memories, and the that type of backlash can take its toll, but he'll be fine in a moment."**

"Kur's right," Anthony said, his breathing a bit labored. "It's already starting to stop."

Catching his breath Anthony was finally able to stand up straight again, and that's when it appeared in his line of vision.

From the skeleton rose up an apparition that resembled a ghost. It was a man, wearing the same clothes at the skeleton, he looked quite feminine in fact with pale skin, long black hair with bangs framing the sides of his head and a short ponytail in back, and finally sky blue eyes framed by black square rimmed glasses, but Anthony could tell with a glance, they were about the same age.

"Are you two seeing this?" Anthony asked, making sure he wasn't going crazy.

"See what?" Yue questioned.

"I don't see anything." Arturia said.

"**Partner they can't see or hear that apparition, only you can because your in the magic circle, and because you passed whatever test that memory search was looking for."**

"Got you." Anthony at least felt better that he wasn't going crazy.

"_Good day to you, my name is Oscar Orcus and I am the creator of this labyrinth."_

Finally! Anthony was so ecstatic about meeting the man behind the Great Orcus Labyrinth, he had so many questions to ask him.

" _I congratulate you on my passing my trials. I assume the term Maverick is familiar to you?"_

It sure as hell was. While in the library of the Helleigh kingdom Anthony had come across references to the Mavericks a few times, the little information he was able to get his hands on, said they were heretics who rebelled against Ehit long ago, bringing destruction to the people, until they were finally struck down. However with how vague that description was Anthony had his doubts about his authenticity, back in his own world, rebellions were well documented, unless you had something to hide, and with the church and god of this world, Antnony was beginning to feel that was the case. Though at least now he could ask Oscar some questions about it all.

"_I'm sure you have a great many questions, unfortunately I can't answer them for this is only a recording."_

Just like that Anthony's hopes were dashed, but he didn't feel down, he knew he would get something out of this meeting, seeing how only an extreme sadist would create a labyrinth this hostile and complex only to give the conqueror nothing in the end.

"_Instead I wish to pass on a certain truth to you, a truth about the history of this war torn world and what inspired others like me to stand up and fight for what we believed in."_

Anthony was feeling it, a big reveal was about to happen, like a story point in a game that allowed one to progress to the next level, only that level was extremely hard.

"_I don't know who you are, or what circumstances led you to challenge my labyrinth, but you fought hard and came far, so as a reward I shall grant you my power. You may do with it what you see fit, I have but one request of you, do not use it for evil purposes. That's all I have to say to you, you'll understand more soon enough. One last thing, may you remain resilient and may your destiny always be yours to control."_

The recording of Oscar then faded from existence, and the magic circle glowed brighter than before.

"Shit, what it this!?" Anthony cursed, holding the sides of his head with both hands. "It's like someone is taking a jackhammer to my head!" He yelled, as images flashed before his very eyes at rapid speed, even with his new body, it was an experience.

At last it was finished, and the light of the magic circle died down, leaving Anthony heavily breathing and sweating, but also… "Holy Shit!"

Very shocked.

"**To think, this is more complex than I ever imagined," **Kur said, no usual playfulness in his voice, he was dead serious, after looking through the memories and information Anthony was just given.

"Anthony!" Both Arturia and Yue ran up to him to support him, but he was standing on his own when they reached him, a blank expression on his face.

"Anthony are you ok?" Arturia asked.

"Are you ok?" Yue also asked.

Anthony looked at them, his eyes slit going wide. "I'm fine, but you two, you need to use the magic circle as well. It will explain everything better than I can." He finished.

The girls wanted to argue, but the look in Anthony's eyes, it was pleading with them that they use the magic circle as well. And since both knew him well, they could only guess that whatever he had just learned was of an extremely serious nature. So with some hesitation they decided who would go first, and it was Yue.

As she stood still for a few moments and got whatever the magic circle had bestowed upon Anthony, she silently walked out, looking at the floor.

"You as well Yue?" Arturia asked.

"..."

Yue remained completely silent, passing Arturia, only pushing her forward by her back, telling her to learn it all from the magic circle. Seeing as her companions were choosing to give her the silent treatment, she had no other choice, she walked forward and the magic circle again sprang to life.

Once it was over, Arturia fell right to her knees, sobs beginning to form.

Anthony leaning against the wall in the back with his arms crossed knew exactly why Arturia was beginning to shed tears, the unimaginable truth that Oscar had left behind about Tortus.

It all began long ago in the Tortus's Age of gods. The gods used their power to create Tortus, and one by one died or left the world, all except one. Ehit. For whatever reason this god was mad, he decided to use the world of Tortus as a game board, moving the inhabitants as pieces in his war game that was going to be never ending. All for his delight.

Then one day some 2,000 years in Tortus past a certain individual discovered the truth of the mad gods twisted scheme and formed a group to oppose him. Known in the modern age as the Mavericks, their true name was Liberators, and as their name suggests their plan was to liberate the world from the clutches of Ehit.

Coming from all over Tortus these like minded individuals possessed special power and abilities, with the seven strongest possessing age of gods, or ancient magic, magic so powerful it could control the principles of the world itself.

Through long trial and tribulations the Liberators discovered the World of the gods, Ehits home since he could not manifest himself in Tortus directly, using mind control and loyal vassals to influence things. The Liberators prepared to strike, but before they could even begin fighting, Ehit made his move. He used the Liberators one weakness against them.

The people.

Using his power to cast the Liberators as the villians, turning the masses against them, and since they couldn't very well use their powers on those they were intending to save, they were effectively trapped.

Then after a series of long battles only those seven ancient magic users remained. Deeming themselves unable to beat Ehit at the time, they spread out across the continent and built the seven great labyrinths as trials, passing on what they knew to future generations, and hoping with all their might that one day in the future, someone would appear that would finally put and end to the mad god, and let the world truly be free.

"This shitty bastard has to die." Anthony raged, his magic power flaring with his anger. Not only had this guy forcibly summoned him and his classmates for his amusement, but he had been using Tortus, the place Arturia and Yue called home as his plaything. If that wasn't bad enough, he was now going to be gunning for the three of them since they now possessed ancient magic.

The magic they had received from Oscar was known at Creation Magic, and with it one could imbue and shape materials into practically anything, giving them magical properties.

To Anthony ancient magic was the very definition of cheat, and this was just one of them, he could only imagine what the other six could do. Even given the circumstances he was a bit excited to see what Creation magic could do, however he had a small problem.

"I can't use it," he mumbled, doing his best not to bother Arturia who was now into full on tear, Yue going to console her. He could only imagine what the truth did to Arturia, a human who had grown up most likely worshipping Ehit the shit stain, as 80% of humans in Tortus did, a fact courtesy of the shady ass pope Ishtar on the night they first arrived.

He was definitely going after that guy, but back to the matter at hand. He couldn't use the ancient magic he had worked so hard to get. It seems the ancient magics worked via compatible, and creation magic only worked for those with the Synergist job like Hajime or those with a similar skill. It also seems that Oscar himself held the job of Synergist Master, a title he rightly deserved.

"**You can use it, this ancient magic," **Kur said, having been silent these last few moments.

"Explain." Anthony said.

"**As I said, you can use this magic partner, and the reason is simple. Because my soul is within you. Us dragons are masters of all forces including magic, and to me who is regarded as a demi-god, allowing you to use this power to child's play."**

"Thanks, but Kur, you sound… extremely pissed off." Anthony said, noticing the ice in Kur's voice. He had never heard the ancient dragon speak in such a manner, and to be honest, it was scaring him quite a bit.

"**I do, well then I apologize. But this thing called Ehit, before you even think of returning home I have but one request, let's kill this fucker dead."**

Anthony smiled. "You read my mind partner."

"Us as well."

Anthony looked up to see Arturia recovered, though her eyes were read and puffy, showing just how much she had cried. "This is our home, and we'll fight for it!"

Anthony then shifted his gaze to Yue.

"My people are alive. And if so, then even as their banished queen I will fight for them, even if they hate me, I want them to live their lives." Yue finished, resolve in her eyes.

"Ok then, looks like we've got a mission. Conquer the other labyrinths, exposed the church, and beat the shit out of a false god."

Now it was an adventure.

* * *

**A/N**

**As I said, canon changes. The vampire race is not dead, Yue is not as cold as before, and now the team will actively be gunning for Ehit's ass. And that's not even taking into account the other arcs I'm planning to add in between the dungeon or the other OC's. If you want to know more, then keep reading.**


	7. Chapter 7

"So I know we want to get moving at fast as possible, but we need time to prepare," Anthony said. As someone who wanted to explore the ruins of his own world, he could attest to the fact that preparation was key.

"I'm fine with that," Arturia said.

"Nhn, me as well." Yue said.

"Excellent then." Anthony nodded, then looked at Oscar's corps. "We should give the guy a proper burial."

As the girls nodded in unison, no one noticed how Oscar's crops was moved by some sort of wind, the words "Thank you." being faintly spoken out loud.

After burying Oscar's corps the groups began to explore the mansion, now able to access all rooms thanks to Oscar's ring, which they now had in their possession. In one room they found Oscar's study, and a memoir he wrote detailing his exploits with the other Liberators, They found it quite eye opening. Next they found a workshop with all sorts of materials and techniques for crafting, something Anthony and Arturia would enjoy.

It turns out she can use Creation magic as well, being made into a draco-man with Kur's magic infused in her.

And even though Yue had no aptitude whatsoever for Creation magic, the others told her not to worry. It was an ancient magic after all, it might come in handy eventually.

By the time they had done all they had needed to the dome of the cavern actually changed to night, amazing all three of them. Now they could count the days without worrying about loss of time. Oscar really had thought of everything.

"Hah, that was nice," Anthony mused, flopping onto the outdoor bed, in nothing but a towel.

He had allowed the girls to take their bath first, then him. Now refreshed, it was time for some sleep on a nice comfy bed, something he hadn't done in he didn't know how long.

How clueless he was.

As Anthony was enjoying the crisp and lukewarm air, he felt something touch his private area, sitting up at lighting speed his jaw hit the floor when he saw what was in front of him.

Arturia holding his member, with Yue behind her, rubbing her breasts and sucking her blood, a flush on both their faces. It was enough to get him going.

"Am, what are you girls up to," he asked, feeling the heat rise in his body. It had been a while since he empties the tank, and Yue blue balling him these last few weeks only made it worse.

Yue stopped sucking Arturia's neck and licked her lips, sending a seductive look Anthony's way. " I just want to show my appreciation to you both, that's all."

Before Anthony could say word Arturia tackled him and began a kiss. Pulling up for air, she leaned down and began to whisper. "Come on, I know you like her as well, so let's just do it."

Anthony had always suspected Arturia batted for both teams, and this just confirmed it. And while he was apprehensive when they were all fighting for their lives… he would explain to Yuka properly later.

He grabbed Yue's outstretched arm and she didn't hesitate to jump into the dog pile.

* * *

**WARNING: EXPLICIT CONTENT AHEAD**

* * *

Wasting no time, Yue was thrown onto the middle of the bed, Arturia and Anthony eyeing her with dangerous glints in their eyes.

"It's payback time, wouldn't you say Arturia," Anthony asked.

"Yes, it is," she agreed.

Before Yue could escaped they pounced. Anthony began to fondle her breasts, one hand twisting a nipple, the other kneading the other one. Meanwhile Arturia went to work on her lovely legs, trailing along them, right up until she made it to the pussy, slowly blowing on it, Yue twitched with anticipation.

Seeing his chance, Antony stopped kneading and dove right in, beginning to suck on Yue's breasts, switching back and forth like a pro, using his hands to squish them together so he could give each one equal attention, Yue was enjoying it as she pushed Anthony as deep as possible into her cleavage.

Having felt like Yue had been teased enough, considering how much she was leaking. Arturia began. She started with one finger, lightly brushing along Yue's pussy, back and forth, tasting the juices when she had a chance, to her it tasted like honey. Inserting two fingers she began to move back and forth, while Anthony continued to suck on her nippsed which had become razor hard.

"Nh, don't stop!" She cried out, her body rocketing up and having her first orgaism of the night, squirting out for a good five minutes before buckling under the pressure and falling down to the bed.

"My,my, someone is quite eager," Anthony said, using his fingers to collect some of Yue's juices to taste for himself.

"I'll say." Arturia said, her body and loose flowing hair glistening with Yue's juices.

"Nhn, sorry, it's been a long time," she said, having recovered enough to sit up, "Now it's my turn to make you feel good." Yue attacked Arturia, beginning a passionate kiss, that included tongue. As she did, her hand moved to Arturia pussy and began to flick it, eliciting moans of pleasure from her.

Using both hands, Antony began to play with both girls at the same time, eliciting moans from both of them, increasing the speed as their moans got louder. Finally he inserted three fingers into each, and stirred, even using a bit of lightning magic to stimulate them. When he did, they both came simultaneously, his fingers becoming trappers in their pussies.

When he could finally move his hand again, he felt the girls eyeing him. "Now ladies, no reason to look at me like that," he said, backing away from the predators in front of him.

With a shared look, they attacked.

Taking hold of his member, Yue swallowed him whole, forcing him to flop onto the bed and be that their mercy. Arturia took care of the balls, licking them well enough he felt like he would come at any moment, but as quickly as the sensation arrived it vanished, opening his eyes he saw both girls faces on the side of his cock, beginning to blow their warm breath on it, causing him to buckle a bit.

"No, you can't come yet," Arturia husikly said, taking hold of Anthony's balls.

"That's right, we haven't even gotten to the main event yet," Yue said, beginning to lick his shaft up and down.

Soon she was joined by Arturia, licking the other side of his shaft, their tongues dancing over it like professionails, Each time Anthony was about to cum, they stopped, squeezing his balls more and more, trying to stop him up. Then they put their final plan into place.

Squishing his cock between their glorious mounds, they began to give him a glorious boob job, their nipples pressing into each others, adding to the pleasure. They increased the pace, harder and faster, pushing Anthony to the edge, the final straw was when both kissed the tip at the exact same time, giving one final push up.

"Cumming!"

Anthony released a massive load, sparing not only both girls breasts, but also all over their faces and in their hair, a need for another bath once they were finished.

Neither wasted a drop, licking the other clean in front of Anthon who was still as hard as a rock.

Deciding to punish Yue just a bit more, he tackled Arturia with superhuman speed and inserted his cock into her pussy, causing her to cum right off the bat.

"A-Anthony not so rough!" She screamed in pleasure, as he pounded into her over and over again.

All the while, he looked at Yue who was breathing with a flushed face, saliva coming out of her mouth like a dog in heat.

Taking hold of Arturia, he flipped her over, his dick still inserted. Now with her doggy-style, he increased the thrusts. "Yes Anthony, fuck me, do me harder!" She yelled, even moving back and forth herself, her pussy a wet mess making sloshing sounds.

Smirking at Yue, his eyes were saying, "You want this, right?". She nodded vigorously, even going so far as to rub her boobs to keep her arousal in check.

"Alright then." Picking up the pace Anthony began to thrust harder and harder into Arturia, using her arms as stabilizers, with one final thrust they came together, her slumping forward on the bed and him pulling out and standing up.

Going around to the other side of the bed, he turned Yue toward him and inserted his penis, elciitng an orgasim right off the bat. As her legs buckled around his waist, Antony lifted her up onto is body, slapping her butt lightly to be playful.

It was then he felt her pussy get tighter.

"Did you just get tighter from my spanking?"

"Nhn, no." Yue said.

Anthony could tell she was lying. "My mistake then." He slapped it harder this time, getting a yelp and a tightness around his dick, he was sure this time.

Pulling her hair back, he caught a look of her face, still looking like a dog in heart. "My,my, what a naughty oujo-sama you are, to tighten from spanking," Anthony teased.

"It's nat tre," Yue tried to say, her tongue slack from all the pleasure.

"You asked for this then." Anhtony twisted Yue around, laying her body on the bed doggy-style.

"Wait!"

"To late." Anthony began to pound into Yue, delivering slaps to her butt, each one a bit harder than the last, as he continues this combo, Yue's porcelain skin become dyed in red, her moans getting louder and louder, her pussy getting tighter around Anthony's cock.

"Please punish me harder master, this dirty girl deserves it," Yue screamed out, surpsring Anthony, he would never take her for the submissive type, but then again, he was having sex with a vampire, while the soul of an ancient being resided in him, so anything was possible.

"As you wish." Anthony increased his speed and slaps, thrusting into harder and harder, until finally…

"Cumming!"

Both yelled in unison as they came together, finally into a heap on the bed.

As the night went on, those same screams of pleasure could be heard well into the dawn hours.

* * *

**EXPLICIT CONTENT:END**

* * *

Anthony through all the trials and tribulations he had faced thus far had decided to stop denying his true feelings, while he cared for Yuka, Arturia and Yue both gained a special place in his heart, so without knowing him he had created a harem, every japanese boys dreams.

* * *

"How is it?" Anthony asked.

"Good, it's hard enough, and packs a lot of power." Arturia said.

"Yue?"

"Nhn, it feels good, I can work with it."

The three of them were not doing anything erotics at the moment, for the past two months they had been resting, recuperating, and preparing for when they left Oscar's dungeon. They had found they could do it now simply by using his ring to take a magic circle to the surface.

Still, they wanted to be as strong as possible, so other than threesomes, they had been pouring time and energy into making themselves into veritable monsters. To that end, Anthony went a bit crazy. Using the materials and notes in Oscar's workshop, he created weapons from his own world for each of them.

For Arturia who had an uncanny resemblance to a certain blonde king, he created the sword Excalibur. Making it out of Azantium the hardest metal in Tortus, and a small piece of the Divinity Stone, he gave it the ability to harden when infused with magic, control of wind magic, and control of light magic. That was all he could do however, three abilities to one object was his limit, even with Kur and Oscar's guidance, but he didn't fret, as time went on he knew he would improve.

Taking into account Yue's personality and demeanor, there was only one weapon he could think of that matched her, the spear Gae Bold wielded by Scathcath, the queen of the Land of Shadows.

Sure it might seem a bit redundant to give a super powerful mage such as Yue a weapon, but if her magic power ever ran out, Anthony didn't want her to be caught off guard, plus the spear was the perfect weapon for her, since she used range to attack anyway.

He also used more of the Divinity Stone to craft her a set of earrings and a pendant, allowing her to use the magic they stored up for massive scale spells.

He also made Arturia a pendant in the shape of a dragon, so she wouldn't get too jealous.

As for his weapon, Anthony had to think about it for a while, and finally decided on a western approach, since they were in a western fantasy world. He recreated Frostmourne from the World of Warcraft game for himself, and imbued it with ice and dark magic, since he now had the all elemental affinity ability.

The group also discovered a gold mine in Oscar's workshop, the Treasure Trove. It was an artifact created by Oscar with the help of Naiz, his fellow liberator and user of spatial magic. The ring could hold things in a pocket dimension, then produce them again in a 1 meter radius around the caster who poured magic into it. And they couldn't tell the exact size limit, but no matter how much they put in, there was still more room to be had.

Seeing this Anthony decided to create some transportation for the group. As the monsters of the labyrinth fell to their might, Anthony was able to gather everything he needed to create his two-wheel and four-wheel vehicles.

The two-wheel was a futuristic looking motorcycle that could use the owners magic to attack, and the four-wheel was an all terrain jeep with creation magic installed in it. Both were crafted from Azantium, only ending up singed when Yue used a high-grade magic spell to test their durability, and the tires were crafted out of Taur stone, so they wouldn't lose traction on any surface. Lastly the engines of both vehicles ran on how much magic power the drivers injected into them, with additional trinkets and surprises added in as well.

With everything else taken care of there was only one thing left, the clothes of course.

Using creation magic, Anthony was able to imbue all their clothes with Yue's auto regeneration, so they would self repair if ripped or burnt.

Regarding Yue, she finally had some decent clothes, instead of just spending her time walking around in only a loose t-shirt.

Arturia made her quite the ensemble. She was now clothed in a white jacket, a frilly black shirt, a black skirt, black stockings that stopped just at her thighs, a red bow tied to her chest, and black knee length heeled boots. All together, it only increased Yue's sex appeal even more.

Arturia decided to stick with her old clothes, albeit repaired and imbued with regeneration.

As for Anthony, he went with a different approach. Taking a piece out of Oscar's book he went with a gentleman look. A long sleeve button up white shirt, black pants, a sleeveless black vest, and black shoes to finish it off (think Sieg's attire Fate Stay), he also decided to store his glasses in the treasure trove. Sure he would miss them, but thanks to his new body they were redundant, and he had been getting youst to seeing without them the whole time he was in Oscar's mansion, so a final decision was made.

And in the blink of an eye, the day they had waited for had arrived for them.

Standing on the magic circle and taking one last look around the room, his eye landed on Yue and Arturia. "Again, I know this might seem stupid, but are you sure you want to go down this path with me? The whole world might become our enemy if you do."

The girl just took one of Anthony's hands into each of their own.

"I'll say it again, this is my path now. What else did I become a knight for if not to fight for justice and freedom," Arturia stated.

"I will fight as well. Not only did you all save me, but you let me know some of my clansmen still live, for that I can never repay you." Yue said.

"**Well there you have it kid, we're all in this together for better or worse." **Kur said.

Anthony sighed. "Can't argue with any of that."

Taking his hands back, Anthony slipped on Oscar's ring, the magic circle underneath them beginning to come to life. In a flash they were gone, ready to go and face the gods.

A journey that could only end in victory or defeat.

* * *

The Reisen Grand Gorge, a place unique in Tortus. This massive spanning chasm in the only place where mana does not flow freely, meaning using magic with the gorge is pretty much impossible. Monsters on the other hand could freely roam the gorge, having no need for abundant amounts of mana to sustain their lives. That is also why it is a good dumping ground for criminals and scoundrels, going by another name.

The Executioners Gorge.

Currently in this barren wasteland with sheer cliffs on either side were two people, boasting rabbit ears on top of their yes.

Yes, you heard right, real life rabbit ears, the twitching making it certain.

"Oh, where are they?" The girl of the pair asked, moving from spot to spot like her rabbit characteristics screamed she would do.

This girl in her teens is beautiful, boasting blue eyes, blue hair, a toned body shown thanks to her revealing clothing of a skirt, sandals, and bikini shirt, that is holding up her bountiful chest with ease. She also has a pink ribbon tied to her right ear, making her cuteness even greater in some people's eyes.

"Hey, Shea calm down," the second individual said, a male and also in his teens.

Like the girl known as Shea, the male has blue eyes, but atop his head is close cropped dark brown hair. His attire consists of brown pants, brown boots, a black short sleeve shirt, and a sleeveless light brown vest with animal symbols encircling the forearms.

He is leaning against a rock, hands in his pockets, just looking at Shea run around in nervousness.

"Mu, Alec be nice," Shea said in a child-like voice.

"Sure,sure," he said, waving her off.

Shea wasn't having that. She ran up to him and began to shake him. "Ugh, Alec, why don't you believe me, they'll definitely come, I'm certain of it." Shea said, crying to Alce now.

"Ok,ok, just stop shaking me," he asked, starting to feel a bit dizzy.

Shea stopped, and then pouted. "Sorry, it's just-"

Before she could finish Alec began to rub her head, elicing a "pew, pew" sound from Shea's ears, that moved from side to side in happiness at having her head rubbed.

"I know, I know," Alec said, comforting Shea, and telling her everything was going to be alright.

As the two were getting rather intimate, a magic circle appeared on the wall next to them. Seeing this Shea's face lit up with joy.

"See Acec I told you, here they come," Shea beamed.

Alec on the other hand was a bit more weary. He had no clue who these people were, and if they turned out to be hostile. Things were going to get messy.

* * *

Making it past the traps was easy, Oscar's ring showed them which paths were safe to take, and before they knew it, they were rocketing out of a portal, landing on solid ground,

Taking in their surroundings to make sure they were not hallucinating, all three of them jumped for joy, finally being able to feel the real sun on their faces after so long.

"Ah, so you really came."

All three stopped jumping for joy and looked behind them. Standing there were two members of the rabbitman tribe, a girl with a large chest and wearing revealing clothing, and a boy of the same age, leaning back on a rock, but on guard just the same.

"Ah, can we help you?" Anthony questioned, taking in the real rabbit ears on the top of their heads.

Demi-humans was a broad term in the world of Tortus, encompassing anything not either pure human or devil, meaning it included elves, beastman, and even dwarves, but this was the first time Anthhony was meeting some demi-humans in person. Since they couldn't use magic like humans or devils, both species saw them as worthless and abominations. The Holcheser Empire even used them as slaves. The only demi-human tribe not completely shunned by humans was the aquatic dagon race who made their home in Tortus's western seas, and that was only because they brought in 80% of seafood to the mainland. Anthony could only laugh at such blatant favoritism and hypocrisy when he found this information out.

"Yes," the bunny girl ran right up to him and took his hand, "please, save my tribe."

"What?" Anthony had no clue was was going on. But before he could ask the girl any questions, she was smashed face first into the concrete, a small head crater being created. Looking up, Anthony saw the male sighing with smoke coming off his fist.

"Shea how many times do I have to tell you, slow things down and explain properly?"

All the boy got was a mumble from the Shea girl on the ground.

"Anyway," the male extended his hand out to Anthony, "sorry about her, my baby sister can be quite the handful."

Anthony shook his hand. "No problem, but brother and sister? You don't look older than her at all."

"We're actually twins, but I got my dad's hair, while Shea got our moms. Names Alec Haulia by the way, and as you know," he pointed to Shea," this is Shea Haulia, my baby sister, Pleased to meet you all."

"Pleased to meet you to," Anthony said, but before he could say more, a roar emanated from behind the group.

Turning around they came face to face with huge ravenous looking monsters, drool leaking down the sides of their mouths, showing off their serrated teeth, and eyeing the group as dinner.

The group however was completely unaffected, except of course for…

"Ah, monsters!"

Yes, it was Shea. She had recovered and was now hiding behind her brother shaking like a scared kitten.

Meanwhile Yue tried to take out the monsters with a flame spell, but it fizzed out even before it left her hand. "As I thought, using magic here is very hard."

"Well this is Reisen Grand Gorge after all," Arturia stated.

"Really, wouldn't have guessed that," Anthony said.

"How can you all be so calm?!" Shea questioned.

To be fair, she had a valid point. If normal people were faced with a horde of angry monsters about to make them a meal they would either be running or let themselves be killed, but Shea had no clue that Anthony's groups were monsters in their own right. The small fry in front of them, not even as challenging at the monsters from Oscar's labyrinth.

Ignoring Shea's whining Anthony was about to step up and deal with the monsters, until he felt a hand on his shoulder, turning to the side he saw it was Alec. "Let me handle this if you would," he asked.

"Sure, go ahead," Anthony said.

"Big brother, wait-"

"Shea!"

Alec's hardened voice stopped in her tracks.

"Just wait with these people, and I'll be finished in a moment, otherwise stay back or you'll be in the way," he said, not even turning around to look at her, as he walked forward.

Shea dropped her ears and did as Alec said, going over to Anthony's group.

They didn't say anything at all, seeing as it was a family matter.

The monsters it seemed at had enough waiting. One of them charged right at Alec, intending to eat him in one gulp, as it's opened mouth closed in on him, the entire body of the beast was thrown at supersonic speed into the cliff wall, its teeth in tatters completely smashed in.

"Weak." Alec said, his arm outstretched and smoking, just as the creatures jawline was, not only that, but Alec's fist was glowing with a green hue, indicating the presence of mana.

To say Anthony was shocked was an understatement, he had been told demi-humans could not use magic at all, and it had been well document, so he questioned what the fuck he was seeing in front of him.

"So it seems the rumors were actually true," Arturia said, causing Anthony and Yue to look at her for elaboration on her statement. "Well you see, apparently there are said to be some demi-humans who can use magic and control mana, them being atavists, but until today that had never been confirmed. But from the looks of things, it seems to be true."

"Yes, big brother and I can use magic and manipulate mana," Shea said to them, a sad look on her face. "It's for that very reason that-"

Shea's words were drowned out by immense roars, causing her to tuck in her ears from the sound.

The monsters left were pissed off that one of their own had been taken out, and with such ease as well. Their pride would not allow this, so they marked Alce for death.

Even seeing the look of murder in their eyes, Alec didn't even flinch. He just casually cracked his neck from side to side, then raised his hand to perform the "bring it on" motion, a grin on his face.

For the monsters, that was the last straw.

Numbering five remaining in total they charged in without any planning or strategy, assuming their numbers would give them an advantage, they were sadly mistaken. Alece flared his green hued mana, and in doing so a transformation began to take place, his entire body seemed to sink into the ground a few feet, confusing Anthony's party as too just what they were seeing.

The transformation didn't seem to slow Alec down though. He pushed off the ground creating a crater as he did, flying through the air and taking a fist to the face of the monster leading the charge. His punch which should have broken his hand, in fact shattered the monsters teeth, pushing them up and out his it's mouth, blood spurting everywhere as it did. In the next second the monster fell to the ground, dead.

Seeing that Alec's rear was wide open, two of the remaining four monsters attempted a pincer attack with their fangs, only for Alec to jump back in between their heads, then swings out his fists, smashing their skulls with ease. Now only two monsters were left.

But, seeing their compatriots be defeated with ease, they ran off in fear, for they knew they had picked a fight with a monster even more dangerous than themselves.

Alec walked leisurely back over to the others, a smile on his face like he didn't just massacre four giant monsters like it was nothing. "So, shall we get down to business?" He asked Anthony's group, only for them to stare at him with complicated expressions.

Just what had they gotten themselves into? They wondered.

* * *

After collecting the monster materials not pulverized by Alec, Arturia transmuted some tables and chairs nearby, and Anthony used the Treasure Trove to pull out some snacks and tea. The scene would make anyone cringe, seeing people having what was basically a tea party in an area synonymous with death, however no one in that group gave a shit about what other people thought of them.

"So, where should I begin," Alec asked, placing his tea cup on the saucer in front of him.

"How about how you knew were going to be here," Anthony said, eating a cookie.

"Oh, it's all thanks to Shea here," Alec said, giving his sister a pat on the head, making her ears twitch in delight. "Although she's worthless in a fight, and can't control her abilities at all, she never gives up, and occasionally gets things right."

"Ugh, big brother, stop being mean to me!" Shea cried both literally and figuratively.

Anthony's group again said nothing, just allowing the brother-sister antics to go on.

"Right, right," Alec said, still patting Shea's head as she stopped crying and puffed out he cheeks like a child throwing a tantrum.

"Anyway where was I? Oh right, about the two of us." Alec adjusted in his seat, a sort of serious air taking over him. "So, I assume your all familiar with demi-humans and magic, right? "

They all nodded in conformation.

"Good makes things easier. While most demi-humans can't use magic, there are rare exceptions like the two of us who can directly manipulate our mana like the monsters, but because of this we're seen as cursed children and omens of death. So anytime a demi-human shows magical potential, there immediately killed."

Alec's words shook the group to their core, to think that demi-humans who were persecuted would do the same to their own kind, it just showed how twisted things really were.

"Haha," Alec chuckled a bit sadly, "I know those looks, and thank you for feeling that way about the two of us, it means a lot."

"No problem." Anthony said.

"Nhn, we're the same," Yue said.

"You're welcome." Arturia said.

Alec hearing this let a small smile grace his face. "Well, back to what I was saying. Most of us who can use magic are put to death, but our tribe, the Haulia rabbitman tribe wouldn't do it. They cherished us so much, but because they protected us, the council expelled our people from the Sea of Trees. And ever since then, it's been a struggle to survive. To make matters worse, the empires slave traders have been on our asses as of late, forcing us to take refuge in the gorge for protection, but the monsters here only see us as dinner. While trying to find a solution to the situation. Shea had a vision, showing that your group would appear at this spot and would help us with our plight."

"Vision you say?" Anthony questioned.

Alec nodded. "Yes, a vision. You see one of Shea's skills is called Divination, allowing her to see glimpses into the future, however as I said, she can't control it."

"I see now."

"Please help us." Shea spoke up. She reached over the table and clasped Anthony's hands in her own. "I'll do anything if you do, even give you my body." Shea then backed up and did a sexy pose, "So, how about it?"

Anthony just raised a brow and turned towards Alec who was banging his head on the table. "Your sister is quite shameless, isn't she?"

"Yes, please forgive her," Alec sadly said, shaking his head in disappointment.

"I'm not shameless," Shea said, crying again on her hands and knees in despair.

Shea's cries went completely ignored by everyone.

"But even still, the question remains, will you help us?" Alec asked.

"Give us a moment will you." Antthony asked. Alec nodded, getting up from the table he went over to Shea and grabbed her by the ears, dragging her away still crying.

"So, what should we do?" Anthony asked.

"**I think we should do it," **Kur said, having stayed silent as to not scare the Haulia siblings. **"Considering that one of the ancient magic users was an elf, there is a high possibility that a labyrinth might exist in this Sea of Trees."**

Anthony himself had already considered the possibility and was going to search it eventually, but now an opportunity had landed right in their laps, but he wouldn't do it unless the others agreed.

"I also think we should do it," Arturia said, her elbows on the table, "To even navigate the Sea of Trees and reach Verbergen, you need demi-human senses or a way to cut through all the fog that surrounds that place. And since the Haulia tribe most likely wants to return their, they might help us out in our quest. Also," Arturia slammed her hand on down the table, hard, "just thinking about what was done to them appals me," she finished, a disgusted look on her face. While Arturia was human she had never prescribed to the fact they were superior to anyone else, and only joined the church as a formality, but now that she knew the truth, she was done holding her tongue.

Anthony nodded, turning his head to Yue who had been silent the entire conversation. Currently she was drinking her tea, with lady-like precision. "And you Yue?"

Placing her cup down on the saucer, Yue answered. "Nhn, it's fine with me as well. Being chased out of your home for being different by your own people, unforgivable." She said, comparing the siblings experience with her own.

"We're all in agreement then." Anthony said.

There next stop, the Sea of Trees and the demi-human capital. Verbergen.

* * *

**A/N**

**So how do like Shea's brother, pretty cool right?**

**I said changes would be coming to the story, and I meant it. I got this idea because in the light novels Shea was alone for a long time, but having someone to have her back will make things interesting in my opinion.**

**As for Alec himself, tune in to find out more.**

**Please review and comment.**


	8. Chapter 8

Blazing a path along the expanse of the Reisen Grand Gorge was a black jeep, also known as Anthony's four-wheel drive. From what the Haulia siblings informed the party of their tribe was a few days away by walking, so Anthony decided it was not only the perfect time to test out his vehicle to work out any kinks, but it would also give them a chance to learn more about the Haulia siblings in greater detail.

"I see, so your job is Mystic," Anthony said to Alec. He was sitting in the front passenger seat, while the girls were all in the back, Shea sticking her head out the window like a dog.

No one said a word, not even Alec who only shook his head in disappointment at his sisters antics, he really couldn't understand why she didn't think things through. The only thing he could do was support her as a big brother.

"Alec, you ok?" Anthony asked.

"Hm?" Alec was knocked out of his stupor. "Yeah I'm fine," he answered. "And yes, my job is Mystic."

"Wow, that's really cool." Anthony meant it. When still at the Helleigh Kingdom palace Anthony had done research into the various jobs there were, and came across both Divinator and Mystic. Both were combat oriented jobs, but Mystic was even rarer still. That job class allows one to combine martial skills with magic, allowing the user to actually imbue their body with magical aspects, greatly increasing their combat potential, the catch is that the person holding the job must have the physical strength necessary to withstand the magical backlash, otherwise they could be crippled for life, or in the worst case end up dead.

"Thanks," Alec said, his rabbit ears twitching a bit from the praise.

"You're welcome. From what I know about the Mystic job, the training for it couldn't have been easy."

"It wasn't." Alec answered. When he did, Anthony noticed a nostalgic look in his eyes, one filled with both happiness and sadness.

"Isn't big brother super amazing?" Out of nowhere, Shea stuck her head up into the front seat, right between Alec and Anthony.

"Shea, what have I told you about sticking your head into other people's conversations?" Alec asked her, a dangerous smile on her face.

Shea didn't meet his eyes at all. "It's fine Alec, these guys are our allies now, so lighten up a bit." Shea explained, Alec sighing as his eyes and face returned to normal.

"I suppose." Alec answered, a smile on his face.

Shea seeing her brother smiled, gained a smile at well. The siblings were once again sharing a moment, when all of a sudden, it changed. Dropping the smiles their ears began to twitch back and forth rapidly, Alec rolling down his window and sticking his head out for a second before pulling it back in.

"What, what's wrong," Anthony asked in concern. "Are we going to be attacked?"

Alec and Shea shook their heads no, as Alec's face hardened. "We hear slave traders," Alec pointed to a path leading out of the gorge, "just up there."

Anthony didn't need to hear anymore, swerving the jeep, he hopped onto the path of the ledge, going to for a rescue mission.

* * *

When the jeep reached the top of the cliff, the group was met with the sight of a large expansive forest, but more than that, the sight of other people.

Demi-humans in chains, begin herded like cattle into carts, as humans laughed at them, and used whips to corral them like livestock. As one young rabbit eared demi-human girl came running toward the direction of the jeep, a human slave trader running behind her with fury in his eyes, Anthony did not waste a second in making his next decision.

Pushing on the peddle Anthony accelerated the jeep without hesitation, going past the girl, he spun in a 180 degree circle using the back of the jeep to hit the slave trader, sending his body rocketing across the ground, and right into the gorge, his screams of terror being the last thing he would ever say.

"What the fuck!?" The leader of the slave traders roared, a strange machine coming into his vision. It had just killed one of his men, and if that wasn't strange enough people were exciting it, two men, and three women, two of them demi-humans. Seeing that only made him angrier by the second. "Hey, who the fuck are you pieces of shit!?"

Anthony ignored the man's yelling, walking right up to him. "Hello there, my name is-" Anthony was cut off as a sword was brought to his neck, the face of the soldier in front of him ripe with veins bulging, he was extremely angry.

"Didn't I just aks you who the fuck you are! Know your place, you piece of shit," the soldier angrly snarled. Anthony just sighed, pissing the soldier off even more. "Don't just fucking ignore me, if you do," the soldier looked up, a lecherous gaze now on his face directed at Arturia, Yue, and Shea, "well, we just might kill you, and take those beauties you have with you for ourselves."

The man's soldiers laughed in agreement. They were already beginning to undress the girls with their eyes.

"Well this is unfortunate." Anthony mumbled to himself.

"Huh, what the fuck did you just s- Agh!" Shouts of agony erupted from the leader of the group, Anthony had pulled Frostmourne from the Treasure Trove, and bisected the leader's hand holding his sword. The limb and weapons flopping down on the ground a few feet away, a puddle of blood beginning to form under it.

Before the soldiers could even blink. Anthony swung his leg up and brought it down in an axe kick right on their leaders head, smashing it into the ground, and creating a good sized crater. Not even close to being finished, Anthony jammed his foot into the leader's skull, pushing it further into the ground, even as he mumbled for something like mercy, Anthony wasn't going to give the man any, his eyes were ice cold and unforgiving.

"Now, I tried to be civil with you, but it seems that won't work. Pieces of shit, will always be pieces of shit, as such I'm going back to my original plan." Anthony swung Frostmourne, the head of the leader of slave traders, spurting blood as it was flung a few feet into the air. "Kill you all, and worry about everything else later."

The soldiers were shaking in their boots. As Anthony turned his gaze upon them, they could feel his murderous intent, and decided they only had one option left: Run for their very lives. They prepared to escape, but before they could even get a few feet Anthony cast the wind spell Air Slash, dicing every soldier left into small little pieces, their parts falling to the ground.

"Now that that's finished," Anthony walked over to a locked cage and used his strength to smash the lock, opening it up to reveal demi-human captives insides, "let's get you all out of here."

One by one, the group freed the demi-human captives, pilfering the soldiers for anything of value and giving it to them. After showering them with praise, the captives set out of the nearby Sea of Trees, while the others returned to the gorge, smiles on their faces from having done something good.

* * *

"This is them… right?"

"Alec this is your tribe correct?"

"Nhn, this is them, are you sure?"

Atnhony, Arturia and Yue couldn't believe what they were looking at in front of them.

After saving the demi-human captives from the slave traders who turned out to be soldiers from the Empire the group reentered the Gorge, but this time on foot. The Haulia siblings informed them that they were close, so Anthony didn't see any reason to continue using the jeep, he returned it to the Treasure Trove, and they set out.

As they traversed through the Gorge, the group noticed not one monster had attempted to attack them, they couldn't understand why until they reached it, the place of the Haulia tribe. Coming upon them, the group was met with the sight of a bunch of rabbits running and jumping away from a pack of angry wyverns, trying to eat them for dinner.

"No, stay away from me!"

"Pease, leave me alone mr. wyvern I don't taste good at all!"

"Everyone, hide behind the rocks, if we do that they won't be able to eat us!"

The Haulia rabbit tribe was without a doubt, extremely weak and full of scaredy cats. Eyeing the siblings, the eyes of Anthony's group couldn't help but ask, 'Is it really this bad?' in an apologetic manner.

Alec and Shea who met their gazes could only say with their own eyes, 'We're really sorry.'.

It seems all of them were a bit ashamed to be in the presence of the Haulia rabbitman tribe.

While the group was conversing with their eyes, a wyvern spotted them having entered the killing field, thinking it was their chance for an easy meal, they sped towards the group from the air, and was promptly slashed in half by Arturia's Excalibur the moment it was in range.

That one action stopped everyone from the Haulia to the other Wyverns included, their eyes finally noticing the mysterious group that had entered their debacle.

"Ah, Shea and Alec you've returned!" A man happily said.

Anthony hearing the man's voice had to stifle a laugh, his kansai dialect was coming through without any regard. Turning to see just who it was, Anthony was met with the sight of an older man, rabbit ears on his head, with dark brown hair, and even a beard on his face, running towards Alec and Shea with a happy smile. In Anthony's mind there was only one person this man could be.

"Papa!" She said happily, running up to her father and giving him a big hug.

"Dad," Alec said, walking up to give his father a bat on the back. That for some reason made the man depressed. "Everyone, this is our father and leader of the Haulia tribe, Cam Haulia."

"Nice to meet you everyone," Cam said.

"Hello, my name is Anthony."

"Arturia, a pleasure to meet you all."

"Yue, good to meet you, nhn."

As everyone introduced themselves, the wyverns were getting angrier by the second. They had come for a meal, and instead were getting a show of a family reunion and one of their own dead, they couldn't let that stand.

With screeches of fury into the air, the remaining wyverns dove toward Anthony's group intending to finish them all in one go, and then return to the Haulia tribe for dessert.

The poor bastards had no clue they were about to die.

The Haulia tribe seeing their enemies incoming went with their previous tactic, running and hiding behind the rocks of the gorge. Anthony's group on the other hand just leisurely stood out in the open like nothing at all was happening. The Haulia tribe couldn't understand it at all, like Shea previously they had no clue what monsters in human flesh they had just met.

"Five huh?" Arturia said, a hand on her chin. "If you guys are ok with it, can I take these guys?" Everyone gave her a nod of approval, with that Arturia reached to her side and unsheathed her sword, Excalibur.

Excalibur was a magnificent blade, the handle golden, the pommel blue, and the blade itself a shining silver, just like Arturia's mana. Channeling mana into Excalibur, the blade began to glow brightly, currents of wind beginning to converge around it. As the lead wyvern was upon her, Arturia swung Excalibur upward, a current of power being released as she did. This current not only created a crevice in the ground, but split the incoming wyvern right down the middle, its blood and guts coating everything in the vicinity, from its fellow wyverns to the gorge floor.

The defeat of the wyvern left everyone speechless, from the Haulia tribe to its remaining companions. Using that opening Arturia struck. Launching off the ground she sliced clean through another wyvern, taking off its head, then pivoting on her front foot she quickly turned around and swung Excalibur upward, imbuing the slash with wind magic so that it took out the wyverns mid-section, killing it. In nothing but a few moments the battle was decided, only two wyverns remaining.

Shivering with fear of death the remaining two wyverns took off in the air, scared to face the monster standing in front of them.

"That takes care of that." Arturia said, sheathing Excalibur.

As she did that, Anthony went to collect the monster material from the non-decimated parts of the wyvern corpses. If he didn't it would just be money wasted.

Now that the danger was over, the Haulia tribe came out of their hiding places, seeing the true impact of what the mysterious warriors had done.

Turning to his children Cam only had one question on his mind. "Alec, Shea, who exactly are these people?"

"Our friends." The twins answered in unison.

Thus, the heroes of our story finally met the Haulia Tribe, who thought they were even more monsters than the ones they had been running from.

* * *

'This is it huh?' Anthony could only stare on in amazement.

Right in front of him were tall forest green trees, a perpetual heavy mist surrounding them, this was the Sea of Trees, the home of the demi-humans, the former home of the Haulia tribe, and the place that likely contained one of the Liberators labyrinths.

After saving the Haulia tribe and Alec and Shea vouching for them, Anthony's group was trusted thoroughly, allowing them to strike a deal with the Haulia tribe, they would return them to the Sea of Trees and in return they would lead them to Verbergen. The tribe agreed without hesitation, especially their leader Cam who knew his children would never bring dangerous people around them. So with the deal struck they set off.

It had been a trying few days. Facing off against monsters, making sure none of the Haulia tribe died, and avoiding the empire and any slave traders, but all their hard work had paid off, their destination only a few feet in front of them.

"It's kinda majestic, don't you think?" Arturia said.

"Nhn, it's nice." Yue said.

"So, have you two ever been here before," Anthony asked Arturia and Yue. He knew Arturia probably never had, but with Yue's long life there was a chance she had.

"No, I've never had the pleasure." Aturia answered.

"Me neither." Yue responded.

"Well then, this will be the first time for all of us." Anthony said. He turned around, and came face to face with the Haulia tribe. "Lead the way."

"But of course." Alec said, walking forward, and taking the lead. "Now remember, the fog messes with people's sense of direction, so stick close and don't wander off."

"Yes." Anthony's group answered in unison.

"Good, then off we go." Alec said, beginning his trek into the forest.

The trek was surprisingly easy, as paths had been created over the many years of people traveling them. The problem was, they were moving at an extremely slow pace, noticing this Anthony decided to ask Alec about it.

"Hey Alec, why are we moving so slow?"

"..." Alec didn't respond.

Anthony sense something was wrong from the silence. "Alec, is you're something you're not telling us?"

Alec was just about to respond, when a rustling was heard in the bushes surrounding the group. Coming out into the open it was revealed to be demi-humans, and from the looks of them they were tiger-beastman.

"Hold right there trespassers!" The leader yelled.

The group stopped in place.

"What the fuck are you Haulia doing here," the leader snarled, obvisouly knowing the rabbitman tribe. He then eyed Shea and Alec closely. "Disgraceful, bringing those abominations back into our home!" He then shifted his gaze to Anthony's group. "Not only those things, but humans too, have you no shame!" The leader roared in anger this time. "For this you shall be executed where you stand, men prepare to-"

Wush!

The leader didn't have chance to finish giving his order. Just as he was about to, a bolt of thunder raced past his head and destroyed part of a tree near him, making it splinter into many pieces, then shadow tendrils raced out of the ground, beginning to wrap themselves around the limbs of the guards, the culprits being none other than Alec and Anthony, their mana flaring along with their anger.

"Shut your mouths right now! I don't give a shit what you say about me, but insult my tribe or my sister ever again, and I'll slaughter you all!" Alec roared.

"My,my, why is it that every time I've met a new group of people in the last few days, they end up being pieces of shit that I have to slaughter for not even having two brain cells between them," Anthony sarcastically asked, a cold smile on his face.

The guards could only cower in fear. They had never seen a rabbitman, known for being the weakest of the demi-human tribes release such bloodlust. His human companion too, when they looked at Anthony, they saw a monster, and they prayed they were hallucinating, for some could swear they saw the visage of a dragon surrounding him as well.

They were not.

"Wait please!" The leader yelled. He stepped forward and bowed his head. "I know I have no right to ask this, but please spare my men, as their leader it was my orders they were following, as such your anger is my responsibility alone to bare."

"Leader wait, don't do this!" One of his subordinates yelled.

Seeing the leader taking responsibility for his men, Anthony and Alec knew they had misjudged him, they began to release the soldiers and rein in their mana. Doing this gained them confused looks from the soldiers.

"Why?" The leader asked, stepping forward.

Anthony shrugged. "I felt like it."

"If I punished you for hating me without getting to know you, then I'd be no better than those that cast my tribe out," Alec answered. "So please, forgive me."

Realizing in that moment he had let his anger consume him, the leader of the unti felt shame. "I accept your apologies. But I must ask, why have you come here."

"We've come to conquer the labyrinth here in the Sea of Trees, left behind by the Liberators." Anthony explained, seeing no reason to hide his objectives.

"That doesn't make any sense," the captain responded. "The entire Sea of Trees is a labyrinth."

"No, not in the way your thinking." Anthony understood where the captain was coming from. If one was not a demi-human then navigating the Sea of Trees would surely be impossible and they would get lost in its fog, just like a labyrinth. Anthony on the other hand, was referring to a specific place that held a liberators trial, for if demi-humans could navigate the Sea of Trees with ease, then surely one of them would have stumbled upon it since it's creation.

'**Maybe they have, but they just don't know it.' **Kur said, having been quiet these last few days as to not scare the Haulia tribe, but now it seems he had something to say.

'Your probably right. Hey, can you sense the ancient magic, like you did back in Oscar's labyrinth?' If Kur could do that, then things would go much easier for them.

'**Yes and no. Yes I can sense the ancient magic, but no I can't pinpoint its exact location. It's like its all around us, yet nowhere at all. This Sea of Trees is one of the best hiding places I've ever come across, it's fog is somehow disrupting my scans for magic.'**

'I see. Well thanks for trying anyway.'

'**No problem Anthony, and anyway it's not like its over. We do have the Haulia tribe to guide us after all.'**

'Yeah your right.' Anthony wasn't even close to giving up.

The captain couldn't make sense of Anthony's words at all. He only had one choice left available to him. "The words your using, they're foreign to me, so I wish to consult the elders on this matter."

"No problem, we'll wait." Anthony said. If they could get an audience with the elders of Verbergen, then things would go a lot smoother in progressing on their journey.

It wasn't long before the leader and his group left, and when they returned they were not alone. Accompanying them was stereotypical elves, with pointed ears and all, and one of them was a male older than the rest, with long flowing hair and robes of high quality.

Breaking from the rest, he took up a position in front of Anthony's group, a stern look on his face. "Greetings my name is Alfric Hypist, I am the sitting elder of the Verbergen council." His glare intensified, "First of all, before anything else, that word "Liberator" where did you learn it from?"

Anthony brought forth Oscar's ring from the Treasure Trove. "We learned it from Oscar Orcus, after we conquered his labyrinth."

"Indeed, that is Orcus's ring." Alfric said, eyeing it.

"Oh, so you know of it," Anthony asked, raising a brow.

"Yes I do. But before we discuss anything else, please accompany me to our capital." Alfric began to walk off, and seeing nothing wrong with it, Anthony and everyone else decided to follow.

It took only a few moments before they arrived. What stood before them was a massive gate made of wooden pillars, and higher up in the air, there were wooden walkways interconnecting trees to each other.

"Welcome to Verbergen." Alfric said.

"Wow, so beautiful." Arturia mutterd.

"Nhn, it's lovely." Yue said. In her mind Verbergen's beauty was comparable to the old vampire capital of Dastia.

"Really, no words can describe it." Anthony said.

"I'm glad you like it, but sightseeing can wait, we have matter to discuss."

Remembering why they came here in the first place, Anthony and his friends got a little embarrassed before returning to their senses. Once they did they followed Alfric into the demi-human capital, and where lead to a meeting room, where other demi-humans in lavish robes were waiting. Alfric took his seat at the head of the table, while Anthony's group was brought chairs to sit in, and the Haulia tribe just decided to stand in the background, knowing that them even being allowed in the capital was only thanks to the elder himself. They did not want to push their luck.

Once everyone was situated Anthony and the others had decided to share their entire story up until then, leaving out Kur of course, since his presence might unintentionally antagonize the demi-humans and that was something they did not want or need.

"I see, so this world is being used as the gods plaything." Alfric said.

"You don't seem too surprised about that." Anthony pointed out.

"Well, this world has never been kind to us demi-humans." Alfric said, a forlorn look on his face.

Anthony felt a bit bad now, bringing up the sad history of demi-humans, so he decided to change the subject and fast. "Anyway Alfric, how you do know about the Liberators?"

"No I don't really know about them per se, it's just a legend that's been passed down for a few generations now." Alfric explained. "If one shows up knowing of the Liberators, and bare the proof, then if you find them to your liking, don't be hostile towards them, and lead them to the Great Tree. You all bare the proof, and I like you, but don't let that go to your head." Alfric gained an exasperated smile. "Most demi-humans don't know the legend, and those that do, might still not accept you."

Just as Alfric finished saying those words, the door to the lodging was kicked open, and a man stepped in, an angry look on his face. He was a giant of a man, and a bear-type beastman.

"Jin, maybe just open the door next time." Alfric said to the bear-type beastman who had just crashed the party. "Replacing those things isn't easy you know."

"Shut your mouth Alfric!" Jinn snarled at him. He then directed his gaze unto Anthony's group. "And anyway, your fucking with me right?!" Jinn pointed at Anthony, who was leaning back in his chair. "This guy is the one bearing the proof, even though he associates with abominable children and outcasts!"

"Hey fatso, shut your mouth."

The room went dead silent.

If Jinn was pissed before, then now he was furious. Directing his gaze towards Alec, he stalked toward him and yanked him off the floor by his collar. "What the fuck you say to me you piece of shit abomibable child?! You're nothing you hear me, just a smarmy little shit, belonging to a tribe of pussies!"

Alec didn't get mad, he just let out an exasperated sigh. "Honestly how can you be an elder, your breath smells like it'll kill anything within a thousand miles of you."

Everyone from Alfric to the Haulia tribe had to suppress their snickers as Jinn was dissed by Alec, for him that was the final straw.

Jinn lashed out, punching Alec right in the face, "take that you miserable piece of s-"

Crack!

"Agh!" Jinn's fist shattered, his hand he used to punch Alec in the face cracked into a million pieces, while Alec himself was completely fine. Dropping Alec to the ground, Jinn fell to his knees and nursed his injured hand, glaring at Alec with murder in his eyes, "just what the fuck did you do to me?!"

"Nothing at all, your just a complete fucking idiot," Alec said, picking Jinn up by his collar, easily hosting him into the air, "I mean what kind of idiot attacks an opponent without knowing anything about them or their abilities. You know I can use magic, and yet you went ahead and tried to beat me down, are you an idiot or something?" Alec sarcastically sneered, a strange smile on his face. It was one of glee and joy.

"What the fuck are you?!" Jinn asked, looking like has ready to dish out another attack.

"Me," Alec tilted his head, "well it seems I'm a bit of an S." Alec smiled as his fist became coated in electricity, he then delivered a punch to Jinn's gut, blowing the bear elder back, and straight out of the room, right through the wall, his body imprint left behind in the wall.

"And that takes care of that," Alec mused, dusting off his hands like he had just gotten rid of some trash or garbage. He then turned to face the remaining elders and bowed his head, "Honored elders I deeply apologize about running your meeting place, please forgive me."

The remaining elders could only think, 'That's what your sorry about!'. They had no words to describe what just took place, while most didn't like Jinn and his pompous attitude, he was still an elder, and what Alec had just done was a grave crime in their world.

"I give my approval." The one who broke the awkward silence was the fox-type beastman, who looked like his eyes were always closed.

"Lou, what the hell," the tiger-elder roared, "after what that abominable child just did to Jinn?!"

The fox elder named Lou merely smirked at the tiger elder, his face hidden behind his sleeve. "Zell lighten up, you and Jinn are always so uptight, I rather like these kids."

The elder known as Zell just snorted, "do what you want, I'll never give my approval," he turned to look at Anthony's group with a smug grin, "how's that, you human filth, now you'll never be able to reach the Great Tree."

"We will," Anthony retorted calmly, which only pissed off Zell more.

"You think you will?" Zell then eyed the Haulia tribe. "Oh I see now, you think the Haulia tribe is going to help you," Zell snorted, "don't count on it, those heretics were cast out, all because they couldn't follow our ancient traditions and kill those abominable children!"

The entire Haulia tribes air became saddened at Zell's words.

"In fact why wait, let's execute the lot of these traitors right now!"

"No please wait," Shea said, stepping forward, "don't hurt my tribe, they were only doing it to protect me and my brother," Shea bowed her head, "I ask you, only take me, leave everyone else alone," Shea begged. That is when she felt two hands patted her head, looking up she saw Cam and Alec smiling at her. "Father, big brother?"

"Shea it's fine," Cam said, a reassuring smile on his face, "we all prepared ourselves for this, being outcasts, you have nothing to apologize for."

"Dad's right Shea, don't lower yourself to begging, he isn't even worth it." Alec said.

Shea seeing her tribes love for her, couldn't help but cry tears of joy, she was truly grateful for the family she had around her.

Anthony looking at the family scene could only smile, he could tell the Haulia tribe all cherished each other, he really admired that about them, it was ruined when Zell snorted.

"You really are an idiot, aren't you," Anthony asked Zell.

"Human, what did you just say?!"

"You heard me, your an idiot. Think about it for a second, no I'll just tell you right now. Hidden in the Liberators labyrinth is ancient magic, and if one is hidden here in the Sea of Trees, then that means that ancient magic user was a demi-human correct, how else would you know about the legend?"

"That's… that's…" Zell could find no words to retort Anthony's statement, he was right on all accounts.

"Nothing to say huh," Anthony plastered a smug grin on his face, "or maybe you knew the truth but you just didn't want to think about it."

Zell went dead quiet. He knew if he answered no, then it would be denying a duty passed down by his people for generations, but if he answered yes, then that would mean he and his people were carrying on the will of a demi-human who wielded magic, a taboo in their very own society. No matter what, he was trapped.

"I think we're getting off topic here," Alfirc spoke, "the main point of this meeting is us guiding you all to the Great Tree, correct?"

"No, not really," Anthony responded, gaining some shocked looks from the elders of Verbergen. "Don't get me wrong, I would love to have your approval and cooperation on this matter, but from the looks of things that won't happen. Anyway, we already have guides," Anthony pointed to the Haulia tribe, "we just needed to find out where to go."

"You won't back down, will you," Alfric asked.

Anthony smiled. "Sorry, we can't do that. We have our reasons, I hope you can understand."

The look in Anthony's eyes told Alfric all he needed to know. "Yes, I can see that you've already resolved yourselves to your path." Alfirc sighed, "well then if you're heading for the Great Tree your going to have to wait."

"Oh, and why is that?"

"The fog around the Great Tree is especially thick, even confusing us demi-humans. There are only certain points in the fogs cycle where it thins enough for us to access, and the next one won't be for another ten days."

"Really now?" Anthony turned with a cold smile to the members of the Haulia tribe. "Is that knowledge a well kept secret?"

"No, it's common knowledge for any demi-human," Alfric answered.

"I see." As Antnony heard Alfric's answer his smile went wider, scaring the members of the Haulia tribe even more, all except for Alec who knew this would happen. "No matter, we'll wait." The Haulia tribe visibly breathed a sigh of relief at Anthony's answer.

"Also as to the matter of the Haulia tribe," Alfric set his gaze upon them, "even if they are your guides and under your protection, they still violated a sacred taboo of our people, as such no other demi-humans will accept them."

Anthony knew as much, he could tell the demi-human race who was thought of by all others at the lowest cherished tradition immensely as a way to keep themselves sane, he just wished it didn't have to be that way.

"To that end I have a solution. In our culture if a demi-human goes beyond the Sea of Trees they are considered dead, because outside of this place it is nearly impossible to fell an opponent capable of using magic. So since the Haulia tribe left they are considered dead to us. Meaning what they do is their own business."

"Alfric," Zell roared, "even if you are the head of the council, this is just too much!"

"This is fine right," Alfric asked Anthony, completely ignoring Zell's roars of objection.

"Yeah, it works out." Anthony answered.

It seems they were sticking around Verbergen for a while.

* * *

**A/N**

**I know there wasn't much in this chapter, but I hope you liked the fact Jinn got what was coming to him. I always thought his ass needed to get put in his place, not to mention Anthony's mention of the legend tying in with a demi-human wielding magic. I mean is should be obicious, but no one in the light novel of manga mentioned it. I always thought that was strange, so I did it.**

**Anyway, if you have any feedback or comments send them to me. Oh, and one last thing, I also have Anthony's harem and the pairings ready. Here's a taste.**

**Anthony's Harem: Yue, Arturia, Yuka, Shea**

**That's all for now. As always, please comment and review.**


	9. Chapter 9

Ten days.

That was how long Anthony and his friends had until they could access the Great Tree and brave the labyrinth hidden by the liberator in the home of the demi-humans. To that end, they decided to do something else to pass the time, something they deemed very important.

Training the Haulia tribe.

Removing some taur stone from the Treasure Trove, Anthony transmuted a weapon he thought would suit the Haulia tribe well, the Japanese Wakizashi.

"Am, Anthony what is this," Cam asked, as he looked at the Wakizashi in his hand with a perplexed face.

"Weapons obviously." Anthony answered, leaning against a nearby tree, hands in his pants pocket.

"No I understand that, what I don't understand is, why we have them." Cam pushed his finger against the edge of the blade, reeling back as blood began to leak out from a small cut. "Sharp." Cam sucked his finger like a baby, to stem the flow of blood.

'This is going to be harder than I thought.' Anthony thought, pushing himself off the tree, to stand in front of the Haulia tribe. "Listen well all of you, you have these weapons because we're going to teach you how to fight."

Anthony's statement gained a chorus of gasps from the Haulia tribe.

"Think about it. Your dead to the other demi-humans, meaning the Sea of Trees is no longer safe for you, and then there are the slave traders and the empire who would love nothing more than to get their hands on you. We can't stay with you forever, so what choice is their left for you all, only one. Fight." Anthony finished, stepping back. "Now with that, I'll turn it over to your teacher, Arturia."

Arturia stepped forward, giving Anthony a kiss on the cheek before taking her place in front of the Haulia, a smile on her face. "Alright listen up you pieces of shit!" Arturia yelled, her demeanor completely changing. "We have ten days to turn you pansies into lean, mean fighting machines, now, what do you say to that!"

"But, hurting people, that's wrong," Cam said, only for Arturia to walk forward and punch him into the ground from the top of his head, shocking everyone around them.

"It seems you maggots need discipline." Arturia cast her eyes over the whole of the Haulia tribe, the irises shifting to that of a dragon, "give me fifty laps, NOW!" Arturia roared, her draconically charged voice echoing through the trees.

"Mam, yes mam!" The Haulia tribe screamed, saluting military style before beginning their forced march. Arturia running right behind them to make sure no stragglers appeared.

"Am, that is Arturia, right?" Shea questioned, feeling a bit conflicted on just what she was witnessing.

"It's her."

"Nhn, that's her, no doubt."

"She's good," Alec said, a hand on his chin, "I've been trying forever to get the others motivated like that, and she did so in just a few moments, I need her to teach me her ways."

"No Alec, please don't." Shea said to her brother, who ignored her, watching as Arturia and the rest of their tribe marched deeper into the forest.

When Anthony saw that they were alone, he clapped his hands. "Hey, their gone, you can come out now."

Alec and Shea had no clue what Anthony was talking about,

"**Finally, I'd thought they never leave." **Kur said.

Hearing the strange voice Alec and Shea eyed Anthony and Yue for answers.

"I think it's time we had a little talk," Anthony said. And so, he and Yue explained everything from the beginning, from how Anthony came to be in this world, to Kur, to the mad god, and even the truth of the Liberators. When all was said and done… Shea grabbed a hold of Anthony, tears and snot running down her face.

"How sad!" She cried out, as Anthony hit her in the face to get her away from him. "Ow! Why did you hit me?"

"Because your nasty snot was dangerously close to covering me!" Anthony screamed, checking himself for any of Shea's bodily fluids.

"Shea, how many times have I told you, control yourself," Alec chided his sister, before returning his attention to Anthony and Yue. "Really though, I am truly sorry for all you had to endure since coming to our world."

"No it's no problem," Anthony said, waving Alec off, "if I had never come to this world then I wouldn't have made friends with all of you. Plus I'm not worried about it, if that shitty god brought us here, then there must be a way to send me and everyone else from my world home, and I have this strange feeling the Liberators are somehow involved in it. So if I keep conquering the labyrinths, sooner or later all the puzzle pieces will come together."

"And I'll be right there by your side," Yue said, taking Anthony's hand in her own, bringing a smile to both their faces.

The two lovers had created a pink zone, ignoring the Haulia siblings all together, even when Alec cleared his throat to get their attention, they didn't even pay attention to him. It wasn't until Shea got involved that things changed.

"Hey you two, stop creating a lovey-dovey zone when others are present!" Shea yelled, jumping in between the two lovers, "we're supposed to be training, right?"

"Right," Anthony nonchalantly said.

"Oi Anthony, what's with that attitude!" Shea raged, getting in his face.

"I have no clue what you're talking about." Anthony said, leaning back from Shea and not meeting her eyes.

It was super suspicious, but Anthony wouldn't budge so Shea had no choice but to let it go. Breathing a sigh of relief, Anthony got refocused on the task at hand, training the Haulia siblings.

"So before we get started I need to know what you can and can't do," he said to the siblings, "otherwise this ten day training will be pointless."

"I can help with that," Alec spoke, "as you know I'm a Mystic, and with that it means I can mix magic and martial skills for devastating close combat, the thing is, my arsenal of spells is sorely lacking."

"Got you, and for Shea."

Shea gained a proud looking, puffing out her chest. "Well if you must know I-"

"She's pretty basic," Alec interrupted.

"Big brother." Shea cried, falling to her knees in despair at Alec's comment.

"Well it's true, Shea's abilities are straightforward. You know about Divination of course, but for her to use that skill it takes all her mana, and she doesn't even train. Then her only other combat skill is Body Strengthening."

"Nhn, body strengthening," Yue inquired.

"It means Shea channels her mana through her body to fortify it, the more mana she channels the more weight and power she gains, she can also make herself lighter if she chooses to." Alex explained.

Once Yue and Anthony had finished learning about Shea's ability, they could only give her pitying gazes, and as if noticing the atmosphere the two were giving off. Shea fell deeper into despair.

It was going to be a long ten days.

* * *

Second day of the Ten day period.

Cries of agony could be heard from the forest, but it wasn't the monsters, no these cries were coming from none other than the Haulia tribe themselves.

They were killing monsters for training, but while doing so, their faces were a mess of tears and snot, making the scene something out of a horror movie.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

"Please forgive me!"

"I'm sorry monster-san!"

Arturia sitting nearby on a tree stump watching the Haulia tribe go about their business, was just about ready to lose her shit. Her knuckles were right, and her eyes were rapidly interchanging between normal and draconic, her rage almost at the breaking point. Luckily, the Haulia tribe finished before she did.

"Boss," Cam addressed Arturia, wiping his tears with sleeve, "we've finished what you asked us to do, so please don't make us do it ever again."

Since Arturia's drill sergeant personality came out the previous day, the whole of the Haulia tribe had taken to calling her boss, not only out of fear, but also out of respect.

Arturia could only sigh, "Cam, then what would be the point of this training then?"

"We want to get stronger, but," Cam sniffled, "isn't there a better way to do it without killing the nice monsters."

Arturia's brow couldn't help but twitch at Cam's comment. She chose to ignore it, seeing as how this was their first time killing monsters, and taking any kind of life wasn't easy for anyone, she just hoped they would get over it with time.

They did not.

A few hours passed, and Arturia had reached her absolute limit. The Haulia tribe wasn't completing the training she had assigned to them, in fact one of them stopped mid-kill, forcing her to step in and take care of it. Once it was done, she noticed the other Haulia going to the same spot.

"What is it," Arturia asked, realizing she might be going a bit overboard.

"Aw, look at the pretty flower."

She realized in that moment, she had not been going at them hard enough.

Looking into the crowd of Haulia she saw a flower, they were all cooing over like little kids. Walking up, she stood over the group, her eyes hidden by her hair. "So, let me get this straight, this flower," she pointed at it, "is the reason you almost died from a monster attack?"

The Haulia nooded.

"I mean just look at it, if I had attacked that monster, then I would have crushed it, the flower didn't deserve that," the Haulia tribe member who tangled with the monster earlier cooed, brimming with happiness as he did.

"I understand… Hehehe." Dark laughter began to exit from Arturia's mouth. While still laughing, she raised her foot up, and ground the flower into the dirt, no hesitation at all in her actions.

"Flower!" The Haulia tribe members cried. It was in that moment that Arturia reached out for the nearest one, and used her palm to trap their skull in a vice-grip, their pleading cries for freedom being ignored.

Raising her head and revealing her now draconic eyes, anyone could tell Arrturia was pissed off. "Alright listen up to fuckers, playtimes over!" She threw the Haulia tribe member from her hand into the other's forcing them all to tumble to the ground. "I tried being nice, I tried being civil, I tried being patient, but it seems you cunts won't learn shit until I beat it into those fucking piles of shit you call brains!"

As Arturia's rant intensified, so did the release of her mana, making the Haulia tribe members shiver in fear, they didn't realize they were staring into the face of the devil itself.

"Time to do this hardcore you fuckers! And if I catch anyone of you looking out for flowers, or crying over monsters, I'll castrate you with a rusty knife, and then make you eat your own genitals, now move out!"

"B-but Arturia-" Cam tried to say, only to be cut off by Arturia's murderous filled glare.

"MOVE OUT! NOW!" Arturia roared, her voice distorting with a mix of human and dragon.

"SIR!" The Haulia tribe members yelled out.

For the next nine days, they would journey through hell.

* * *

Fourth Day of the Ten day period.

The sound of explosions could be heard in the forest, but also screams of terror. They belonged to Shea, who was running for her life.

While Anthony decided to train with Alec since their fighting styles were similar, he left Shea's training up to Yue, which consisted of training Shea to last as long as possible in battle, and close the distance with opponents. Shea's fighting style no matter what was going to be close combat based, but against users of magic that could attack from a distance, it was a big gap to cross. So Yue had devised a training regimine, where she would bombard Shea with spells, and she would try to attack her, they had been at it for four days now, and the results were… less than great.

"Gah, ms Yue, please take it easy!" Shea begged/cried as she jumped to avoid another barrage of ice spears.

"Nhn, no can do, if you can't even handle this, then what hope do you expect to have against opponents who are not holding back in the future," Yue montonly said, switching to wind slashes from ice.

"This is you holding back!" Shea surprisingly asked, as she twisted her body every which way to avoid the wind blades thrown at her, that easily created deep crevices in the nearby forest floor.

At Shea's question, Yue could only smile triumphantly. "Of course, are you an idiot or something, I've only been using low-level spells so far, if I really wanted to, a single high level spell an you'd be wiped from existence."

"Ms. Yue, that's so mean!" Shea retorted. She really didn't like how casually Yue was saying she could end her life.

"Enough talk, time to amp it up!" Yue said, intermixing her wind slashes with ice spears, and fire spears. She was boring it on, and it is not because she wanted to put Shea in her place for trying to flirt with Anthony or anything, nothing as petty as that, no she was doing it because Anthony had asked her too, and she liked Alec quite a bit as a friend. That was why Yue was tort- training Shea with all her might.

Yep, there was absolutely no animosity at all being directed at the blue haired rabbit girl.

* * *

Fifth Day of the Ten day period.

The stars were shining in the night sky as a fire roared, a pot of stew hanging over it secured by wooden stabilizers.

After a long day of training Alec, Anthony, Yue, and a black and blue Shea were enjoying their dinner in peace. They had no clue where Arturia had taken the rest of the Haulia tribe since they hadn't seen them since day two of the ten day period, but Anthony and Yue weren't worried, they knew Arturia well enough to know she was would keep the tribe safe and wouldn't kill them, not intentionally at least. So putting at the back of their minds, the others decided to continue on with their own thing.

"That was delicious," Anthony mused, placing his empty bowl near the pot, "seriously Alec, where did you learn to cook like that?"

Yes, it was Alec who had made the stew, and it was so good no leftovers remained inside. Everyone had eaten their fill without reservation.

"Big brothers always been good at cooking, ever since we were young," Shea chimed in, scooping up the dishes as everyone finished. It was her turn to wash them tonight after all. "If you'll excuse me." Shea began to skip off towards the river, Yue in tow. They didn't know when any monsters or demi-humans looking for revenge would strike, and since Shea was the weakest of them all still, she didn't go anywhere without a guard.

"Man, your sister is always so optimistic," Anthony said to Alec, after Shea and Yue were out of range, "seriously, how does she do it?"

"**I'm curious to know as well," **Kur said, **"considering the lives you've lived up until now, anyone else would feel at least a bit of despair, but I don't sense one bit from Shea at all."**

"Yeah, Shea's always been like that," Alec said, a nostalgic smile on his face. "She gets it from our mother."

"Your mother's dead right?" Anthony asked, assuming his answer was probably correct. Since meeting the Haulia tribe he and the others hadn't laid eyes on Shea and Alec's mother, and considering how close knit the tribe was, that didn't make any sense, leaving only one possibility left, she was no longer in the world of the living.

"Yeah." Alec answered, leaning back more into the tree the pair were against. "It happened years ago, no one killed her or anything, she was just born with a very frail body, some said it was a miracle she was even able to live after childbirth, but she did, and you know what, I think she would have really liked you all."

"Really?"

Alec nodded. "Yeah, she wasn't one to judge others until after getting to know them, in fact she had a big hand in making Shea the person she is today, and me as well."

"Now this I have to hear." Anthony said.

"**Me as well."**

"Alright then, it was one a night similar to this one."...

* * *

_~Flashback~_

_A younger Shea was crying her eyes out into the arms of women with hair and eye color the exact same as hers, a soft and understanding smile on her face, while a child Alec who was bruised with scrapes and cuts was looking out the window, his hands clenched in furious anger._

"_There, there it's ok," the woman said in a soothing voice. This was Mona Haulia, the wife of Cam Haulia and the mother of Shea and Alec. "Now, tell mommie what happened."_

"_Those assholes attacked Shea for no reason," Alec furiously roared, as he explained the story of events to his mother._

_Shea was curious about outside the village, and Alec not wanting her to be alone went with her, when they encountered other demi-humans, they were met with fear and had slanderous words thrown at them. While Shea backed away in fear, Alec wouldn't stand for it and attacked them, he got beat up, but he got in a few good punches as well._

"_I see." Mona said, reaching out and taking Alec's clenched fist into her palm. "There,there it's ok." She spoke to him._

_Alec hearing his mother's words unclenched his fist, and took a couple of deep breaths, finally losing the look of fury in his eyes._

"_There, all better now." Mona asked Alec, who nodded. "Now, back to you," she looked down at Shea in her lap, her eyes still damp with tears._

"_Mom, they called me a monster, and because of me big brother got hurt. Maybe I shouldn't ha-" Before Shea could finish her sentence, her mother enveloped her in a complete hug._

"_Shh, my girl, it's ok. Those people just don't understand how special you and your brother really are, your not monsters at all."_

"_Reall, we're special," Shea asked, looking up into the face of her mother who was smiling._

"_Yes, both of you are very special, and I know one day, you'll meet other special people like you. They're out there, all you have to do is find them."_

_Hearing this, boy Shea and Alec couldn't help but smile. Their mother who was the frailest of them all, had a spirit shining brighter than anyone else's._

"_And maybe these special people will turn into someone special someones' for you both." Mona joked._

_The comment made both of her children plush in embarrassment._

_~Flashback End~_

* * *

"That same year mom passed away, but we'll never forget the word spoken to us that day. In that regard I was wondering, after this is all over, can-"

"Done."

"You didn't even know what I was going to ask."

"You wanted to ask if you and Shea can accompany us on our journey after this, right." Anthony wore a knowing smirk on his face, making Alec sigh.

"Yeah pretty much."

"And as I said, we'd be glad to have you."

"Good, I'll let Shea know later then."

That night Anthony's group had added the Haulia siblings to their ranks.

* * *

End of the Ten day Period.

In the blink of an eye, ten days had passed, and changes were abound. Not only was the fog surrounding the Great Tree thing enough for Anthony and his group to be guided their by the Haulia tribe, but the Haulia tribe themselves had changed immensely in the short amount of time they had been in training.

The proof…

Being laid at the feet of Arturia, who was in the company of Alec and Anthony who had finished their training earlier that morning, where the carcasses of monsters their bodies littered with precise slash marks and gouges, marking them as clean kills. The culprits, none other than the members of the Haulia tribe, who were standing at attention in front of the three.

"Will this do boss?!"

"We can get more if you desire, boss!"

"Thank you for making us pussies into lean mean killing machines boss, we're forever in your debt." The Haulia female who said this, punctuated it with tears of joy.

"No this is enough, and I'm proud to say, you've all passed, good job everyone!" Arturia shouted, a proud smile on her face that her temporary students were all coming into their own.

When praised by Arturia, the Haulia tribe too began crying tears of joy, and hugging each other, it was a festival of happiness, the only odd ones out being Anthony and Alec who were eyeing the spectacle taking place in front of them with perplexed looks.

On one hand they were happy that the Haulia tribe could now defend themselves, but on the other… with what Arturia had drilled them into, they were not a bit afraid of leaving them to their own devices. There only option was to hope they didn't turn into psychos for a taste for blood, anyone who let that happen to the sweet Haulia tribe is a fucking monster.

While everyone was celebrating they were being surrounded by bear beastman led by one Reign Vanton, an up and comer among them, and one who admired Jin without regret. He had come today for he knew it was the last day Anthony and his group would remain in the Sea of Trees, his last day for revenge.

'Look at those fuckers celebrating.' Reign laid his eyes on Alec's back. 'That's the one, that's the fucking rabbit who humilitaed Jin, fucking abominable child! I'll save him for last, once I've slaughtered his whole tribe and his friends, fukcer will be begging me to stop.'

Reign raised his hand, signaling his followers to come to a halt, he didn't want to get to close in fear of being detected.

The poor bastard had no clue who he was dealing with.

"Hey everyone!" Anthony called, getting the tribe's attention. "I have one more test for you guys," he pointed to the trees behind him and began to whisper, "right now a bunch of the bear tribe is hiding over there. I assume they're here to get some kind of revenge for that ass Jin the elder for the other day. Anyway, me, Alec and Arturia, are going to go and get Shea and Yue, meanwhile I'd like you guys to handle them. If you can do that, then it proves you'll be able to survive in the Sea of Trees without us, ok."

The Haulia tribe all nodded in unison at Anthony words.

He returned the smile, as he, Alec and Arturia passed them, leaving the bear tribe members lead to Reign to their fate.

* * *

The sounds of explosions could be heard for miles around.

Shea during the course of her ten day training had vastly improved, currently she was just a blur, dodging almost any attack Yue was throwing her way. And Yue had amped up her attacks as well, moving on to spells of intermediate level.

Landing from dodging a barrage of fire spears, Shea launched off the ground, running right at Yue. Seeing this Yue cast the wind spell Gale Impact, creating multiple spheres of compressed wind, and launching them all at Shea. Seeing this. Shea changed direction, dodging the spheres, as she ran in a circle around Yue, not one hitting her person. It was a good thing too, for where the sphere did hit, massive chunks of trees and the ground were blown away, leaving nothing but small craters.

Seeing that Gale Impact was getting her nowhere Yue switched spells, launching a combination of Scarlet Spear and and the ice spell Icicle Spear which creates massive pillars of sharpened ice, at Shea.

Shea avoided them all, and while running grabbed a rather big log with both hands and threw it at Yue, full speed.

Yue didn't even blink, as she used Scarlet Spear to burn the log to cinder, before it even reached her person. It was then she noticed a shadow above her, looking up she saw Shea racing down toward her from the sky, a determined look on her face.

Smiling at her determination Yue met Shea's with her own. She cast the wind spell Air Slash, creating slashes of air that raced at Shea, however she didn't let that stop her. Shifting her body ever so slightly, Shea was able to avoid the attack, and close the distance before Yue could launch anything else, seeing this as her chance, Shea struck.

Going in for a punch, she was so excited she forgot one simple thing, all Yue had to do was spin to avoid her punch.

Which is just what she did.

Yue titled ever so slightly out of the path of Shea's fist, but not before the air pressure around it, left a small cut on her pure white cheek.

As she landed, and went into a roll coming into a standing position, she eyed Yue and jumped for joy. "See there, I got you!" Shea was beaming with pride, after only ten days she had landed a hit on her teacher Yue, who had used her as a plaything for six out of the days.

"Nhn, you did well." Yue said, praising Shea as her Auto Regeneration kicked in,healing the small wound like it was never there.

But not before Anthony and the others walked into the clearing, see it do so.

"Oh, so you landed a hit on Yue, excellent work." Arturia said.

"Shea, well done, you're becoming less useless by the day." Alec said.

"Alec, even though that was a compliment your still dissing me," She whined at her brother, "but thank you anyway." Shea then turned to Anthony, who didn't say anything, he just shrugged his shoulders wearing a wry smile, that was all she needed to know that he was proud of her.

'It's not or never.' Shea thought, walking up to Anthony, making him confused as all hell. Shea then without warning leaned in and kissed Anthony right on the lips.

It only lasted a second before she was frozen solid, an angry Yue releasing a violent red aura behind her. "Nhn, it seems my students is getting rather bold, it seems punishment is in order."

"Shea, why, just why," Alec muttered to himself, holding his head in his hands.

"To think, Shea would be so bold." Arturia said, her arms crossed in contemplation. While she wasn't opposed to having another in the group, since they would be adding Yuka when they saw her again, she was a bit pissed off at Shea's actions. She hadn't even asked permission from his two other lovers, before stealing a kiss.

Anthony was just lost in thought, touching his lips where Shea had just kissed him without reservation.

'**Damn, kid, you work fast.' **Kur said, snickering as he did so.

'Kur, shut the hell up, I didn't do anything this time and you know it.'

'**True, true, but still, this might pose a big problem if you don't address it.'**

'What do you think I'm about to do.' Anthony sarcastically thought.

'**Alright, alright smart ass, no need to get testy.'**

Anthony sighed, while his dealings with Kur were always a treat, sometimes he even wondered if they were worth it, but he couldn't focus on that right now, he had another pressing matter to deal with.

Shea.

"Yue, you can unfreeze her now."

"Nhn, just the head, the perverted rabbit might try something else if I unfreeze her fully."

"That fine." Anthony knew arguing was pointless, especially with the amount of bloodlust Yue was directing at Shea, not even Alec came to her defense this time, his eyes were just looking at the group saying, "I'm really and truly sorry about my sister actions".

With a snap of her fingers, Yue freed Shea's head from the ice.

"Achoo! Hey you guys its cold, unfreeze the rest of me as well." Shea pleaded, snot hanging from her nose.

"Nhn, you cheeky rabbit. I thought you were nice, but really you're a man stealer." Yue spoke, preparing multiple elemental spells to hurl at the frozen Shea.

"Wait,wait,wait! Please let me explain!" Shea begged.

"Nhn, to late, time for punishment." It was then Anthony clapped a hand on Yue's shoulder, making her look at him.

"Yue calm down for a second ok. If you kill her, she can't explain her actions."

"Nhn, ok." At Anthony's words Yue dispersed all spells aimed at Shea, who breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you. Anthony."

"Don't thank me yet, you need to explain right now what the fuck that just was, or else I mght not be able to hold Yue off for long."

"Right. Well you see, the truth is," Shea gained a small blush on her face, her ears twitching side to side, "... I've fallen in love with you!"

Shea's words left everyone speechless, and only further added fuel to Yue's rage filled fire, her aura expanding outward even more.

"Huh?" Was the only response Anthony could give.

"Like I just said. I've fallen in love with you. I think you're really cool, and strong, and kind, and even though you didn't know us, you helped me and my brother save our tribe, so yeah, I love you."

"I see… sorry Shea but I don't love you, and anyway I'm taken." Anthony said, rubbing the back of his head. The situation was really awkward for him, he had never really been popular with girls before, yet here in a world different from his own he had already made a harem with a vampire in it, and now cute bunny girl was confessing to him, any other guy would be calling it heaven, but for him, it was a bit surreal.

"Nhn, that's right." Yue said, stepping up to Shea. "Anthony's heart belongs to me, Arturia, and Yuka, and it's not an easy thing you can just worm your way into." Yue then eyed Shea's chest. "Besides, all of us already have big chests, so your melons will be of no use in seducing Anthony."

Shea felt hurt at that comment made by Yue. "Even so… I've made my choice, and I won't give up." Shea lifted her head up, her eyes brimming with determination.

Seeing her eyes, no one could say anything to her, not even Yue who saw it, all she did was click her tongue in defeat. She then released Shea, who fell to the ground shivering.

"Huh," Anthony released a sigh. "Well, nothing we can do about it I suppose." He turned his gaze to Alec. "And you're ok with this?"

"I guess," Alec said, shrugging his shoulders, "Shea seems sincere, and I know you're not the type of guy who would play with her feelings, so all I can really say is, I'll be watching, and whatever way this "thing" she started ends I'll be there for her."

"Guess that's all you really can do." Anthony said. "I guess we should go back to the others, they should be finished by now."

"Finished with that?" Shea asked.

"Their graduation ceremony." Anthony answered.

* * *

Reign Vanton was scared shitess, laying on the ground broken and beaten along with his men, he could feel death encroaching on him, and what was worse, the feeling was coming from a rabbitman.

The rabbitman was thought of as the weakest among the demi-human tribes, but after today that would be no more.

Reign had seen the humans and the abominable one walk off, so he thought why not finish off the disgraced Haulia tribe, and display their bodies, making sure that when the humans and abominable ones returned they would know utter despair.

Waiting a few moments to make sure they were gone, Reign then signaled for the attack to begin. As his warriors jumped out of the brush and charged toward the Haulia tribe, they ran away in the fashion they were known for, screaming in terror. Reign laughed at their cowardice, ordering his men to chase them down and end them. With a hearty shout the men did as ordered, but as they got deeper and deeper into the forest for the chase, they began to notice… strange things.

One, the number of Haulia tribe members had thinned out to only a few. Two, the bear beastman had the strangest feeling they were being watched. Three, they were catching up to the remaining Haulia tribe members, but it looked as if they were almost… slowing down, to allow themselves to be caught.

Even seeing all the signs Reign ignored the small voice in the back of his mind telling him to turn around and walk away, no matter what he was going to avenge Jinn. Finally catching up to the Haulia tribe members, he didn't wait and attacked the first one in range. That is when hell occured for him.

The Haulia tribe member Reign was going to attack, stopped and turned around, flashing him a big smirk. In that instant blurs from all directions jumped out, with blinding speed Reign felt his body being peppered with wounds, very close to his vital areas, the pain being enough to bring him to his knees, but there was more than just that.

"Fuck, it hurts!"

"No stop please!"

"Agh!"

All around him Reign heard his men cry out in agony and fear, he himself was even feeling the immense bloodlust permeating the air, and he knew exactly where it was coming from. Slowly lifting his head up Reign came face to face with none other than Cam, a bloody Wakizashi in his hand, and a sadistic grin on his face.

"So, how did you like our surprise?" Cam asked, throwing his blade through the air, the blood sliding clean off and marking the forest floor. "We sure got you, didn't we."

Cam began to stalk closer to Regin, forcing the beat beastman to do something he had done a few other times in his life, backaway. "N-no, stay back, stay the fuck away from me you monster!" Reign was now utterly afraid of rabbitmen, and the Haulia tribe.

"Oh, so you guys are done, good job."

Looking past Cam, Reign saw Anthony's group appearing from the woods, now with Yue and Shea in tow.

"Thanks Anthony, that means a lot coming from you." Cam said, his demeanor back to usual.

Reign had no clue what the fuck he was seeing, this man who was just a few seconds ago glaring at him like some bloodthirsty beast, was having a normal chat like nothing at all just happened. The strain was too much for him, sending Reign's brain into overload.

He blacked out.

"Leader!" Reign's subordinates shouted. They could not comprehend the fact that rabbitmen had cause their leader to black out. Even so, they dare not move, for fear of ending up just like him.

"So, what should we do with this lot?" Cam asked Arturia.

"Just let them go."

"Really, are you sure boss?"

Arturia nodded, glancing at the scared faces of Reign's group for a moment. "I'm sure. They've lost all will to fight, their leader is done in, and they have psychological damage from having their asses handed to them by what is supposed to be the weakest demi-human race, add to that their wounds, and killing them would just be a wait. Instead, let's just let them live so they can spread the word: Don't fuck with the Haulia tribe."

"As expected of boss, you think things through," Cam praised, before turning to Reign's group. "Be thankful maggots, if boss and the others weren't here right now, then you'd be six feet under. Now go and spread the message you just heard," Cam pointed to his tribe, "don't fuck with us."

"Yes!" With lighting speed Reign's people picked him up, and then ran off, a dust cloud in their wake.

"Now that that's settled, off to the Great Tree." Anthony shouted, raising his arm into the air, a chorus of cheers erupting from everyone else in agreement.

* * *

Anthony and the others had to agree with Alfric's assessment. The fog was much denser around the Great Tree, even if it had thinned out as he said it did, they couldn't even see a foot in front of them. If they didn't have the Haulia tribe guiding them, they would surely have been swallowed by the mist by now.

"Oh, we've arrived." Alec said, leading the group in the front.

As they arrived at their destination, the fog completely vanished, making their surroundings crystal clear in their vision. What stood before the group was an ancient and massive tree, reaching high into the sky, it's roots protruding even on the forest floor. And at the base of the Great Tree, was a grey stone tablet planted firmly in the ground.

Knowing that was their target, Anthony and the others walked over to it.

When they arrived, they found it had four slots, connected in a circle, but that was all, nothing else happened.

"Shouldn't something be happening," Shea asked.

"Maybe it just needs a little help," Anthony said, taking out Oscar's ring from the Treasure Trove. When he did so, the tablet reacted, words beginning to glow inscribed on it.

"It says to enter this place, four proofs are needed, and you must possess the power of restoration." Arturia read.

"Restoration huh?" Yue used her fangs to prick her finger, dabbing her blood on the tablet before her wound sealed, yet it didn't react. "Nothing happened."

"It's not referring to your power of Restoration Yue," Anthony said, having a clear on what the stone tablet was instructing them on. "It's saying we need to conquer four other labyrinths, one of them containing this power of Restoration, before we can even enter this one."

"So we came all this way for nothing." Yue said.

"No not nothing," Anthony retorted. "We now know what we need to acquire to enter the Sea of Trees labyrinth, and now we have friends and guides in the Haulia tribe, as well as two new companions. So I don't think it was a waste at all."

Anthony's words uplifted the somber atmosphere, he was right, on all accounts.

"Not to mention, we have a reason to come back now," Alec said, as he and Shea turned to face their father and the other members of their tribe. "So, dad and everyone, we'll be going for a while."

"You better not get into too much trouble while we're gone." Shea said, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"Shea, Alec, if only your mother could see you two now," Cam proudly said, tears forming in his own eyes. "You've decided on your path, so go, live your life, and remember we'll always be here waiting for you!"

"Yeah!" The other members of the Haulia tribe shouted, they too beginning to shed tears of joy at the heartfelt sendoff.

It was a new beginning for all of them.

* * *

**A/N**

**I know I know, no action in that chapter either, but if I'm following the story and making it my own things are going to take a while.**

**Anyway, how did you like my Shea confession, pretty good right. I told you she would be a bit different from her canon counterpart, and don't worry, more lemons will be coming up soon.**

**Now it's time to head into one of my favorite parts of the story, and Kur will also be back more.**

**As always, please review and comment.**


	10. Chapter 10

"So, where to next." Anthony asked everyone.

It had been a few days since they had exited the Sea of Trees saying farewell to the Haulia tribe for now, and adding Alec and Shea to their group. Currently they were relaxing in the forest having lunch, a map laid out on a table transmuted by Arturia, so she could practice with Creation magic.

"How about Grand Gruen Volcano, that's a labyrinth, right?" Arturia suggest, taking another bit her sandwich.

"It is, but I was thinking about going for the labyrinth in Reisen Grand Gorge." Anthony proposed.

Back in Oscar's mansion as the group read his memoirs they came across the name of the leader of the Liberators and one of the seven great labyrinth builders Miledi Reisen who had actually created the Executioner's gorge back when she was alive, and from the way Oscar told it, her labyrinth was hidden somewhere in the gorge itself.

"Why that one," Alec asked.

"Honestly, considering everything we know I think it would be the easiest to find." Anthony explained. "We only know the locations of three great labyrinths, and yet out of the three we can't enter one without conquering four others, one of which is specifically needed to even attempt the Great Trees trial." Anthony sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, he really wished Oscar had been more specific in his memoirs, but understood why he hadn't been. On the off chance someone with evil intentions managed to conquer his labyrinth, then Oscar's memoirs would become a way of unintentionally selling out his comrades, and from the brief recording Anthony saw of Oscar, he could tell he wasn't that kind of person. "Look guys, we know this Mledi Reisen was a labyrinth builder and a liberator, so it stands to reason we'll find a clue if we search the gorge, and even if we don't find anything, we can just move on to Grand Guren, sound good?"

The silence was all the agreement Anthony needed.

"Excellent, so after stocking up on equipment, we're reenter the gorge."

It was round 2 in Reisen Grand gorge.

* * *

Brooke Town, a nice and quiet place, out of the way and perfect for Anthony and his group to stalk up on supplies.

After finishing with lunch the used the jeep to cover a great amount of distance, then a few miles away from town Anthony placed it back in the Treasure Trove and they continued the rest of the way on foot, he wasn't idiotic enough to drive up in an unknown vehicle, he did not want questions asked he didn't want to answer. And on that note he also used magic to modify the status display of his and Arturia's status plates, he didn't want people thinking they were monster or something.

Even though they definitely were.

As they approached the gate to enter town a guard noticed them and yelled, "Halt!" They did as instructed. "Status plates for identification please," the guard asked, eyeing the group with trepidation.

"No problem." Anthony said, as he and Arturia handed over their Status plates with ease for the guard to inspect.

"What business do you have in town," the guard asked them, his eyes continually darting between the plates and Anthony's group.

"Nothing much, we're just going to sell some monster materials and register at the adventurers guild," Anthony explained.

He wasn't lying either, they decided registering at the adventurers guild would make things easier as they moved around conquering the great labyrinths, they couldn't very well rely on Anthony's status as a hero, or Arturia's status as a knight of the Helleigh kingdom. That would be like sending up a big red flag, telling people where they were, and at the moment they couldn't afford it.

"Alright then," the guard handed the Status plates back to Anthony and Arturia, before turning his gaze on the others, "what about them?"

Yue stepped up and turned on the charm. "Nhn, just this once, can you let us pass, please." It was like sex appeal was oozing from her pores, as the guard felt his mouth going dry, and his body going hot.

"W-well I suppose," the guard managed to say.

"Thanks, you were a big help." Yue complimented.

The guard then easily moved to the side allowing the group to enter. Once they did Anthony went over to Yue and planted a quick kiss on her cheek as a reward for a job well done. Since it would have been a hassle to explain about her and the Haulia siblings he had simply asked her to charm her in, and it had worked. Sometimes he couldn't believe how simple men were, but then again he was a man himself.

"Ms. Yue is dangerous," Shea murmured, both frightened and impressed by how easily Yue charmed the guard.

"I have to agree with you there sis," Alec murmured. Even he had to admit, he felt rather hot when Yue performed her charming trick.

Now inside the town walls the group headed straight for the Adventurer's guild. Pushing open the doors, they were immediately peppered with the gazes of rough looking men, with scars and all. Most people would be scared, but for Anthony's group, their glares and looks meant nothing, they calmly walked in and headed right for the reception desk, when someone decided to be an idiot.

Walking right into their path to the reception desk was a group of men, their eyes holding lecherous looks, aimed right at Yue, Arturia, and Shea, nothing hidden in their motives.

"Those are some nice looking women you have right there," the leader of the group said, stepping right up to Anthony, trying to user their height and size difference to intimidate him. "I think they might be too much for a young one like you, how about we take them off your hands for a while, huh."

Anthony simply sighed. His fist a blur to everyone but his friends, Anthony punched the leader of the group dead under his chin, the force launching him into the air and right through the ceiling of the guild.

The remaining members of his group, and everyone else present in the guild could only think one thing, 'Damn, who the fuck are these kids!'.

Paying them no mind at all Anthony and his group continued on to the counter, and was met at the reception desk by an older woman who gave off a friendly aura. "Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild, my name is Catherine. How may I help you today?"

"Good day to you Ms. Catherine," Anthony said, a small smile forming on his face. He really felt at ease around Catherine, like she was a nice aunt that gave him money and snacks every time he saw her. "First off, sorry about the mess." Anthony pointed to the adventurer on the floor, as he had finally fallen down from the roof.

"No, no it's ok, those boys will repair it, and it's their own fault anyway, so no need to worry," Catherine explained.

Anthony had to give Catherine props. She didn't even bat an eyelash at the way adventures acted, meaning she was well versed in dealing with them.

"Alright then. So we need quite a few things today. We would like to sell some monster materials, register as adventurers, and we were wondering if you could point us to some good places in town to stay that allow demi-humans, and maybe some item shops as well, if you would be so kind."

"My, what a well mannered young man, don't worry I can help with all that," Catherine said.

Catherne was a woman of her word, in no time flat she had registered everyone in the group as adventurers, and even given them a personalized map of the town she made, marking down all the best spots, the only problem that occurred was when Anthony brought out the monster material the group had collected until now. It turned out to be high-grade stuff, only usually brought in by black rank adventurers and above. Thankfully the group was able to smooth it over, and got on their way.

Arriving at the hotel, they ordered two rooms and a bath, the young girl Misha being restrained by her parents, the owner of the innn, as her face was giving off a perverted look when she heard the groups request. The owners told them not to worry, assuring them they would not be disturbed during their stay.

Having no words to say, the groups went to their room. Alec and Shea in one, and Anthony Yue and Arturia in the other.

Entering their room Anthony's group was met with the sight of two beds. Arturia did not waste a moment as she chose one, and flopped down onto it. "Finally, some rest and relaxation," she mused. "If anyone needs me I'll be in the bath," she said, only needing a minute to recover her energy.

She closed the door, leaving Anthony and Yue alone, it was then Anthony felt a silencing spell being placed around the room. Before he could say anything about it. Yue straddled his waist and delivered a passionate kiss right to his lips, pushing him down on the bed.

"Yue, what's all this," Anthony asked.

"Nhn, that perverted rabbit, thinking she can move in on my territory." Yue said, undoing her shirt, and tossing off her ribbon. "She has a long way to go before that even begins to happen, in the meantime, she needs to learn about the gap between the rest of us and here."

Anthony had never seen the jealous side of Yue before. She was fine with Arturia, and even fine with Yuka when Anthony told her about her, but for some reason she couldn't stand Shea. He didn't understand it at all, but with his current position… he decided it was best to let her have her way.

And at least this way, Shea wasn't going to be killed.

* * *

**WARNING: EXPLICIT SCENE AHEAD**

* * *

Undoing his clothes in a timely fashion and throwing them to the side Anthony leaned up to kiss Yue, only to be pushed back down firmly onto the bed.

"Nhn, don't move. Tonight I'll pleasure you." Yue said in a husky voice.

Getting off Anthony she removed her jacket, shirt and shoes, keeping on her skirt and stockings. She then removed Anthony's pants with skill, allowing his cock to stand at attention. Taking hold of it with her delicate hands, she swallowed it up hole, causing Anthony to jerk a bit at the pleasure.

Yue went to work, bobbing her head up and down, her saliva mixing with Annthony's cum, coating her hands and face, as she continued, she kept swatting Anthony's hands away when he tried to touch her.

"Come on Yue, your killing me here." Anthony wanted to touch his beloved so badly, but she wouldn't allow it.

Coming of his dick makined and audible O popping sound, Yue looked at Anthony with sultry eyes. "Nhn, you need to be punished."

Pushing Anthony further onto the bed, Yue climbed on top, and then used her stocking covered feet to take hold of Anthony's dick.

"Yue!"

"Nhn, getting harder from my feet, such a pervert." Yue teased, as she moved her feet up and down along the base of Anthony's dick, her black stocking being coated in his semen. Along with that Yue began to suck on Anthony's nippples, switching between the two with ease, as she amped up the base of her feet on his dick.

The stimulation was too great, as Anthony was just about to reach his limit, Yue stopped moving her feet. Confused as to why Anthony saw Yue move back and open her pussy over his cock that was ready to explode. He didn't even have a chance to argue before Yue planted herself on him, his floodgates opening.

Anthony cummed hard right as he enetered Yue, which in turn caused her to orgasim herself. As the two let out moans of pleasure, their bodily juices mixed, coating the bed and themselves.

Once it was over, Yue leaned onto Anthony's chest to catch her breath. It was then she felt movement. "What?"

Having no time to react Yue was flipped onto her back, her arms being held over her head by Anthony whose cock grew larger, as he moved back and then slammed into Yue.

"Kyah!" Yue cutely moaned, as Anthony repeated slammed into her, while sucking on her breasts, switching from one nittple to the other.

Anthony picked up the pace, going faster and faster, ignoring Yue's cries for him to stop, taking a moment to look at her face, he saw she was once again panting like a dog in heat, he had no choice but to tease her.

"Very cheeky Yue. You talk about Shea, but what was that you were pulling, naughty girl."

"No, it's not true." Yue slurrily said, as Anthnoy continued to ram into her as they talked.

"No, your a naughty girl." Anthony exclaimed, ramming into Yue again.

"I'm n-"

Anthony took one of Yue, nipples into his mouth and bit down on it, while also pushing his cock farther than it had gone before. The stimulatiaon it caused Yue forced her to orgasim, which in turn caused Anthony to orgasim as well.

When it felt loose enough Anthony slipped out of Yue, he then placed his cock over her body, and jerked himself, releasing the last bits of cum trapped inside him all along her body, from her breasts to her stockings, making her a mess.

"Now, who's a naughty girl?"

"I am." Yue said, under a haze of sexual pleasure.

"That's right," Anthony leaned down and kissed Yue. "But your my naughty girl."

* * *

**EXPLICIT SCENE: END**

* * *

Finished with their small tryst Yue and Anthony journeyed to the bath, and upon entering it came upon the sight of Arturia, Alec and Shea all bathing, paying them no mind, the two entered the bath.

"Gah, Anthony and Yue, you two," Shea wrinkled her nose, as her beastman senses told her exactly what the two ahd been doing before they entered the bath.

Aec and Arturia could tell as well, but they didn't want to seem rude, and let them have their privacy.

Yue smirked, leaning into Anthony's shoulder. "As I thought Shea is still a child. Doing this and that is normal when having a lover, Arturia has done this as well. Shea is far behind us."

From Yue's sharp tongue, Shea began to cry a bit. "Yue, really that's mean. Doing this and that isn't easy you know."

"I've done it plenty of times, even before I met Anthony," Yue explained.

"That's only because Yue is old." Shea was frozen in a block of ice again, before she could say anything else, only her head remaining free.

"Sorry, did you say something, I think I misheard you," Yue said, a dark smile on her face.

"Yes, Yue misheard me, I didn't say anything about age at all, rather Yue is a young beauty!" Shea hastily roared, praying Yue would be merciful.

"That's what I thought." Snapping her fingers, Yue freed Shea from the block of ice.

The rest of the time was then spent just enjoying the bath.

* * *

The next morning the group split up, while Shea was taken out by Arturia and Yue to stock up on supplies, Anthony and Alec had something else to do.

Later that night they met back up at the hotel in the siblings rooms, with Shea sporting a new look. She was sporting a light blue crop top, exposing her navel and cupping the underside of her breasts, a matching skirt, and white knee high boots.

Shea explained that they had got it from a man (?) named Cristable, and from hearing the description of him, Anthony and Alec both covered their butts with their palms, shivers visibly racing down their bodies, they vowed to never run into Cristabel alone. If they did, their butts would be in trouble.

Moving on from that horrible moment Arutria said they had stocked up everything needed for their expedition to the Gorge, now all that was left was the surprise Anthony had been waiting to unveil.

"Shea, Alec, these are for you."

Pourning magic into the Treasure Trove Anthony pulled out two weapons. The first was a massive warhammer dyed light grey in color, and the second was a two handed double-bladed battle-axe. "Shea the warhammer is for you, and it's name is Gungnir, and Alec the axe is called Soothsayer, I hope you like them."

Shea immediately grabbed Gungnir and lifted it up with ease, taking practice swings with the massive warhammer like it was nothing. "Wow, this is amazing."

"Try pouring some mana into it," Anthony suggested.

Shea did as instructed, her mana igniting, its color being a speckled blue. Pouring it into her weapons, Gungnir's handle extended farther out matching Shea in height, but more than that, the hammer part ignited in brilliant red flames, shocking everyone except Anthony.

"Wow, so cool!" Shea got over her fear quickly, stars in her eyes at her new weapon.

"But how," Alec asked Anthony.

"With a little bit of help from my predecessor." Anthony then went on the explain that while reading Oscar's notes he came across references to Oscar's main weapon, an umbrella imbued with many different abilities, only needing mana to activate them. So taking that concept, Anthony decided to make weapons for the Haulia siblings based on it, further increasing their battle potential.

"Thank you Anthony, this thing is the best," Shea exclaimed. She then got a perverted look on her face, as she rubbed it against her new weapon, causing everyone to give her dead fish looks.

Disregarding his sisters antics Alec thanked Anthony as well. If he were to say it, he considered him his best friend by now.

"You're welcome guys. Now let's get some rest, for tomorrow we set out to conquer another labyrinth."

* * *

Things were not turning out like anyone had hoped.

Having left Brooke Town a few weeks ago, our intrepid adventurers entered Reisen Grand Gorge in hopes of finding and conquering its labyrinth easily, that was not how things had turned out.

Since entering the gorge they had come up with nothing, nothing except monster materials for on a daily basis they were attacked. The only good thing about it was that it made good combat training for both Alec and Shea, allowing them to get youst to their new weapons.

Still, everyone was getting extremely weary of seeing the same expanse of rock and cliffs everyday.

Currently the group was sitting down and enjoying breakfast, made much easier by their artifacts created by Arturia and Anthony. Cooking appliances infused with Heat Stone, a tent infused with Heat and Cold stone to regulate temperature and imbued with Detect Presence and Erase Presence to protect against monsters while everyone was sleeping, and even a jug capable of instantly refilling itself and imbued with Cold stone to keep the water inside nice and cool. Really, Creation magic sure was convenient.

Even so… they did not come to the gorge for a camping tree.

"This is taking forever," Anthony griped, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, "Kur, can't you sense anything," he asked his partner.

"**Sorry partner not a thing. Whatever is up with the gorge, it's interfering with my detection abilities, just like in the Sea of Tree." **

"I understand," Anthony leaned back in his recliner chair he had made with Creation magic, "well if it was easy, then I guess it wouldn't be a great labyrinth then."

"All we can do is keep searching." Arturia added.

"Nhn, that's all we can do." Yue said.

"Yep, all we can do." Alec said.

As the sun rose in the sky, the group of adventurers had a cloud of despair hanging over their heads. That was all about to change.

"Guys!" Everyone looked up to see Shea running towards them, a smile on her face. For someone who had gone off to use the restroom she looked way too happy to them. "I found it, the entrance to the labyrinth." At Shea's statement, everyone perked up.

Quickly packing up their gear they followed her as she led them to a small cave not even visible unless you got up close to it.

"While I was looking for a place to do my business, I stumbled upon this." Shea pointed to a glowing plaque attached to the cave well.

"Is this forreal?" Alec questioned.

As the group got closer, the plaque on the wall great brighter.

"_Welcome to Miledi Reisen's super-duper amazing labyrinth! Ku."_

… Everyone was dead silent. The welcome they had just received from the wall plaque projecting the happy tone of young girl destroyed their sense of danger. Anthony's group so badly wanted to shout, "Give me the seriousness of the Orcus labyrinth back!" but refrained from doing so.

"So this is a great labyrinth huh," Alec said with a complicated expression.

"No,no,no, wait a moment Alec," Anthony quickly said, shaking his friend rapidly, "even if this is a great labyrinth it's completely different from Oscar's. I have no clue why, but trust me, this place is still extremely dangerous, don't be fooled by that greeting!" Anthony shouted the last part, making sure Alec understood just how uneven this place was with Oscar's.

"I get, I get it, just stop shaking me." Alec asked, and Anthony did so.

"Even if it is different, now our adventure can really begin!" Shea threw her fist into the air happily, beginning to search for the entrance to the labyrinth.

Meanwhile Anthony's group was still processing the whole situation.

"So is this legitimate?" Arturia asked.

"Yeah," Anthony answered, a pained look on his face. "No matter what. In Oscar's memoirs he specifically mentioned a Miledi Reisen, meaning this is her labyrinth, whether we want it to be or not."

"How do we get in then?" Yue questioned.

Gusha!

Shea fell inward, as the entrance to the labyrinth revealed itself. It was a false wall that spun outwards, like some sort of ninja trap.

… "You're kidding right?" Everyone else questioned after seeing the entrance open, for some strange reason, they all felt like it was going to get worse before it got better.

"**Don't fret everyone, this is the right place. It's faint, but I can sense the same power I felt in Oscar's dungeon somewhere around here." **Kur said.

If Kur said so, then everyone believed him. With his confirmation they entered the labyrinth.

As the group stepped inside the wall snapped back into place behind them, leaving pitch blackness, or it would have if Anthony, Arturia, and Yue could not see in the dark, the Haulia siblings didn't have extremely sensitive hearing.

As everyone moved forward they heard a noise.

"Get down!" Anthony shouted as he saw a barrage of arrows being released right at them.

When the arrows stopped, the room slowly filled with light. Anthony who was lying flat on his stomach checked himself for wounds and found none, turning around he saw everyone else was uninjured as well, so pushed himself off the floor to stand back up. Upon doing so, he noticed a stone tablet sitting in the middle of the room, just like at the Sea of Trees albeit smaller, knowing it to be a clue he and everyone else approached it.

When close enough they noticed writing on it.

"_Did that scare ya, did it? Then your a kid. Bufu! Oh I hope nobody died or got injured, if they did then that means they're idiots. Ha!"_

… When finished reading the message everyone was extremely pissed off. Not only was the message extremely annoying, but as if to punctuate how annoying it was, the sentences had words at the end that told people the owner was mocking them. And if that wasn't bad enough if someone had actually been caught in the arrow trap, then the others remaining would feel even worse after reading the message. So everyone concluded the message was the result of a person with a really twisted personality.

Shea unable to control herself at being mocked took out Gungnir and smashed the stone tablet to pieces, but in doing so revealed another message underneath it.

"_Ah, did you perhaps get angry and smash the message, well too bad for you. These stone tablets will automatically regenerate over time. Fwah!"_

… "You know, disregarding her role as a Liberator, Miledi Reisen was a stain on humanity." Arturia coldly spoke.

"Truly a rotten person!" Shea angrily yelled.

"I want to punish her right now." Yue darkly said.

"She needs to fix that disgusting personality." Alec commented.

"I feel really sorry for Oscar who had to deal with her." Anthony said.

"**Even I'm not this cruel." **Kur commented.

Although they all said it different ways, everyone agreed unanimously that Miledi Reisen was a truly rotten person on the inside.

* * *

**A/N**

**And so it begins, the exploration of Miledi Reisen's super-duper amazing labyrinth! **

**Haha, now just a word of warning, there will be some things added here, also if you need an image of Yue and Alec's weapons just think of the Rueful axe from Skyrim for Alec, and a warhammer from World of Warcraft for Shea.**

**Anyway, as you can see Shea is a bit different than her canon counterpart, and the changes will only increase from here on out.**

**I know I haven't done any of my own arcs yet, but worry not, they are coming.**

**As always please review and comment.**


	11. Chapter 11

When the group progressed further into Miledi's labyrinth they could tell despite her rotten to the core personality that she was still serious about testing their worth.

The entrance of the dungeon was littered with staircase, and doors. Some lead nowhere, while others split off into multiple paths, unlike Oscar's straightforward level dungeon. Miledi's was a veritable maze, meaning no clear path was given, making it all the more difficult to reach the end.

Traversing as they had been for the last few minutes throughout a passage they choice, everyone heard an audible "Click." sound.

Looking down at her feet, Arturia noticed she had stepped on a pressure plate.

It was then that the walls opened up in all directions, releasing spinning saw blades that were primed and ready to cut everyone to pieces.

Thanks to their enhanced senses and reflexes everyone was able to maneuver out of the path of the blades, Arturia taking a hold of Yue and dragging her along for she did not have the same abilities as the others.

Somehow everyone made it passed the blades, but Yue had received a small cut to her arm, and although it was healing, it was doing so much slower than usual.

Anthony noticing this performed an experiment. He attempted to use a lighting spell, only for it to fizzle out before he could even shoot it off. 'Just as I thought.' He turned to everyone else, "it seems the deeper we go, the harder it is to use external magic."

"**You got that right partner. I'm barely sensing any magical energy at all." **Kur explained.

"So what, we can't use any magic at all?" Arturia questioned.

Anthony shook his head. "No we can use magic, it'll just take a lot more effort. You see the mana in the saturtating the air is so thin here to even use a simple low level spell, you'd need mana on part with a high level one, meaning you would tire out quickly."

At Anthony's explanation everyone quickly realized two things. One, this was the worst possible labyrinth for Yue, seeing as how magic was her main weapon, it would be very difficult for her to fight if they got into trouble.

"I'll be fine, so stop worrying about me so much." As if sensing everyone's gazed Yue reassured them she would be fine, so they let it drop.

The second thing was the most important however if they were going to clear the labyrinth. Since external magic could barely be used, it meant relying on internal magic a majority of the time, and the Haulia siblings just so happened to be masters of that particular sort of magic. In layman's terms, it meant the conquering of the labyrinth would heavily depend on them.

"Leave it to me, I won't let you all down," Shea exclaimed proudle, taking her fist to her chest.

"Yeah, we've got your backs," Alec said, reassuring everyone else.

As the sibling stepped out in front leading the charge, everyone felt a renewed sense of vigor, nothing could stop them now.

* * *

Something ended up stopping them.

Progressing deeper into the labyrinth, the group triggered all sorts of traps, some by accident, and some just by entering an area. Since most of the traps were physical, and with their activation mechanisms hidden everywhere from the floors to the walls themselves, they were made increasingly hard to avoid. That's not even mentioning the traps themselves.

Arrow shooting out of the walls, strange white liquid being released which managed to coat both Shea and Arturia forcing them to clean themselves off, and there was one trap that made all the others so far seem like child's play.

Shea had accidently stepped on a floor panel, and when she did the floor under everyone slid back, causing them all to fall and begin sliding down a curved path.

Anthony and Arturia attempted to transmute some sort of holds, but with how fast they were going and the lack of mana in the air, it was just wasn't feasible.

'Time for plan B.' Wrapping his arms around both Yue and Shea, he instructed Alec and Arturia to do the same and be ready.

They did as instructed, and just in time too, for all five of them exited out of a tunnel, and heard… a chittering sound underneath them, looking down they saw a mass of scorpions waiting, their stingers primed and ready, but this day that would not happen.

Igniting their mana both Arturia and Anthony began to appear as if they were walking on air, but really it was all thanks to a new artifact Anthony had created he dubbed Jet Boots. Imbuing footwear with wind magic, Anthony and Arturia were able to create miniature platforms for them to jump off of, and they were glad they had so now more than ever, ending up in the bile of scorpions on the ground would have been really damaging mentally for them.

"What's that." Yue said, pointing upward to draw everyone's attention.

There was a message on the ceiling.

"_Hey everyone, I hope you're enjoying yourselves with all those babies. Don't worry there not poisonous or anything, but their sting will paralyze you, Gah! Isn't it great, you get to spend a lot of time with those babies, and it's all thanks to me, the great mage Miledi. Ha!"_

"Ignore it, ignore it, ignore the words," everyone mumbled to themselves, as Anthony and Arturia landed safely with everyone in tow on the platform that led out of the room.

In short the traps were not only serisouly fucking annoying, but also psychologically damaging to anyone caught in them. They only served to increase everyone's anger at the girl known as Miledi Reisen.

Pushing onward and ignoring the other comments they saw from various traps after about a weeks time, the group arrived at a set of double doors that looked important. Not hesitating for a second. Anthony kicked them in, and the sight he was met with… was another door.

Yes, at the far end of the room they had entered was another door, but that was not the only thing, there were also multiple suits of armor wielding weapons lined up at attention.

"**Everyone, prepare for battle. Those suits of armor aren't just armor," **Kur warned, prompting everyone to take out their weapons.

Just as Kur said the suits of armour came alive, bringing their weapons to bare, and setting their sights directly on Anthony and his friends.

"Yue and Arturia handle door please, the rest of us will take care of the golems." Anthony said, a grin on his face, and his eyes becoming draconic.

"Roger." Yue and Arturia said in unison, racing past the knights to the other end of the room to work on opening up a path.

Leaving the others to deal with the enemies.

Alec was the first to charge, imbuing his body with earth magic, he kicked off the ground swinging Soothsayer in a vertical motion, bisecting a golem and taking it out in an instant. Following him up Shea kicked off the ground and spun, adding force to her motion she used Gungnir to take the head off a nearby enemy, a smile on her face after she finished.

It caused her to let her guard down, allowing an armour to close in her blind spot. It was good she had reliable friends then.

Anthony blocked the armours path, as it swung down its sword, Anthony parried with Frostmourne, then seeing his chance, thrusted his blade right where the heart would be, and unleashed shadow blades, cutting his opponent to pieces. "Shea, don't get distracted!"

"Right, excuse me!" Shea answered, putting her guard back up instantly, she wouldn't make such a careless mistake again.

As the armours continued to attack, Antony and the Haulia siblings easily dispatched them, only… the number of armours wasn't decreasing at all.

"Just what's going on here, no matter how many we smash they just keep coming," Shea raved, smashing Gungnir into the chest of an armour.

Anthony paying close attention to the enemies spotted the reason why they weren't making a dent, they were slowly repairing themselves. "Tch, there golems, not only that, they can self repair!" Anthony furiously roared.

It explained everything. Unless you destroyed a golems core they just kept coming, no matter what you did, just like with a monster. And from how many times the group had destroyed the golem knights, it was clear none of them had cores.

"Where the fuck are their cores then?!" Alec screamed, dodging a sword slash. "We've been destroying these things over and over again for the past few minutes and have not seen shit!"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out. Kur," Anthony called, hoping his partner could help them out.

"**The core for these golems isn't in the room, and it's… moving around, That's the best way I can explain it."**

"Alright thanks," Anthony said to his partner.

He wasn't tired, but the golems were wearing them down bit by bit, and there was still what awaited them at the end of the labyrinth, if it was anything like Oscar's final test, they would need all the strength they could get.

"It's open!" Yue shouted, signaling for the others to come forward.

Anthony let a smile appear on his face. Pushing past the golem, he and the Haulia siblings raced into the now open corridor with Yue and Arturia, noticing that the golems weren't following them.

"Why aren't they following us," Alec questioned.

"Maybe they can't," Arturia proposed, her eyes darting back and forth weary of any surprise attacks, "maybe they were just meant to stall us, and then let us pass when we opened the door."

"Maybe." Anthony said, yet something didn't feel quite right. He had a nagging feeling that things were too easy.

Anthony's feeling was right.

The farther the group progressed the stranger things got, they noticed they had somehow become inverted running on the ceiling, it was like the laws of physics were being ignored. Then reaching a certain point, the entire group was spit out into a dark room.

That when illuminated showed at it was the starting point of the dungeon. They had gone through all that, just to end up back at the beginning.

"This is a joke right?" Arturia asked, a hollow laugh coming from her.

"It should be fine, I marked the path so we can find our way again," Alec explained. Still, the throbbing vein on his head showed how pissed off he was as well.

"Look over there," Yue said, pointing to the stone tablet, as new words appeared on it.

"_Hey, tell me how you feel, come on tell me. If you haven't realized it by now, then I'll tell you, you're back at the beginning of the labyrinth! Gwa!"_

…

"_Aren't you excited, aren't you super happy? You get to spend more time in my, the great Miledi's super-duper labyrinth. Ha!"_

…

"_I know, I know, you're praising me right now. Oh, and if you marked it, too bad, because this labyrinth changes every time you end up back at the beginning. So sorrie! Bufu!"_

…

"_So go ahead, and tell me how you really fe-"_

Shea smashed the stone tablet with all her might, a mighty yell accompanying it as she did so. Even if it regenerated she was past caring about that shit.

"Ha… ha… ha…" Shea was breathing heavily as she finished.

"He… hehe…. Hahaha!" Anthony let out a dark laugh. "It seems we've been too lenient with conquering this labyrinth."

"Yes, this labyrinth is an enemy of humanity, we must crush it," Arturia coldy said.

"No mercy, nhn." Yue said.

"Destroy." Alec simply stated.

"Agh!" Shea yelled, smashing Gungnir into the ground, creating a crater in the ground.

Everyone was done playing around with Reisen labyrinth.

It took them less than a week to reach the golems room again. This time there were more of them. The same as before Yue and Arturia worked to open the door, as the others held off the golem knights, but this time when they entered the corridor…

"Seems they're following us this time," Alec said, looking behind them as the golem knights were chasing after them, literally flying through the air.

"How the hell are they flying?" Shea screamed, running faster.

Anthony knew, or at least had and idea. It had to do with the ancient magic housed in Miledi's labyrinth, but he didn't want to speculate, at least not yet.

Continuing to run everyone saw the exit, and grew a bit pale, for their was only a single platform available, the rest of the dark surrounded in pitch blackness. Knowing they couldn't stop they went for it, jumping with all their might they landed safely on the platform, which is when it began to move, lurching forward nearly knocking everyone off.

Anthony held on to Yue, transmuting the soles of his shoes into spikes to get a foothold, Arturia did the same, holding into a crying Shea, while Alec imbued his body with earth magic, and planted his hands into the platform itself, hanging on.

Somehow everyone made it, the platform coming to a stop, allowing them to regain their barings, but that didn't mean they were out of the woods yet.

"Oi,oi, you're kidding me right," Anthony nervously asked.

Shea couldn't say anything, her eyes just went wide with terror. Alec and Yue were much the same, visibly sweating at bit, and as for Arturia, she almost passed out.

Looming over the group was a massive golem, it's right hand a blazing fist releasing plumes of smoke, and in its left hand a floating chain making a "gyuh, guyh" sound as it moved through the air, attached to a massive spiked ball.

"Nice to meet you all, I the great Miledi Reisen welcome you! Bufu!"

… Everyone's expectations were instantly destroyed… Again.

* * *

No one could comprehend what the massive golem they were facing had just proclaimed that is was Mieldi Reisen, one of the Liberators that had died over a century ago. In their minds is should be impossible.

"Hey, hey, what's with those faces, hm? I just greeted you warmly and your being so cold to me," the golem said in a cheery voice.

Seeing no other option but conversation to find the truth, Anthony stepped up. "Hey, your fucking with us right, calling yourself Miledi Reisen."

The golem wagged its finger in a "tsk, tsk" motion. "No, I'm not lying here, I am Miledi Reisen."

"That should be impossible," Arturia retorted, "in Oscar's memoirs he clearly referred to Miledi Reisen as a human girl, not a golem." Arutria explained.

"Oh, so you all have been to O-kuns labyrinth, huh," the golem said, nodding in approval. "And since your still alive I take it that means you conquered it?"

"Yeah," Anthony took Oscar's ring out of the Treasure Trove and presented, "we did."

Eyeing the ring in Anthony's hand, the golem continued to nod. "Yep, yep, that's O-kun's ring alright."

"Right, but more to the point, what exactly are you?" Anthony questioned once again.

He really wanted to know what he was conversing with. He had learned through research back in the castle that residual thoughts could be bestowed upon certain artifacts and golems, yet those were only simple wishes. Nothing like the conversation Anthony was having right now, and he knew for a fact it wasn't some form of Necromancy because Necromancy only reanimated a dead body, it couldn't affect the soul, so that only left one option in Anthony's head.

An Age of Gods magic was the only explanation he come up with that properly explained the situation.

"**Bingo partner." **Kur said, drawing the Miledi golems attention to Anthony.

"Oh my, what's this now?"

"**Hello there young missy, you can call me Kur. If you want to know what I am, I'm a traveler of sorts who came from another dimension. But don't worry, I'm nothing like that piece of shit masquerading as the god of this world." **Kur spat out venomously. **"In fact I want to take a dagger and shove it right in his ass, watching him cry in agony as I do."**

"... I see." The Miledi golem said in a neutral voice. "...Glad to meet you Kur." She went back to her frivolous attitude .

Anthony on the other hand noticed it, for a brief moment he felt killing intent being directed at them all from the golem calling itself Miledi. He couldn't explain it, all he knew was, he saw why she was a Liberator now.

"Anyway, for the last time I am Miledi Reisen. It's complicated but the reason I'm like this is because of Age of Gods magic."

Anthony's hunch was right on the money, but he wondered, just which of the ancient magics allowed a human consciousness to be transferred to a golem, he couldn't wait to see.

"Now that I've answered all your questions please answer mine. Why are you seeking ancient magic?"

"It's like this," Anthony began. "I'm not from your world. Me and my whole class were dragged here by that shitty god to fight the demons for the human empire. Luckily I met Kur, and through some trials and tribulations we conquered Oscars labyrinth and learned the truth of this world and about you Liberators. My goal is pretty simple, I'm sure that shitty god has a way to send me and my friends back home, but seeing as how he's fucking powerfeul as hell I figured it would be good to power up before facing him. So me and my friends are on a quest to conquer all the great labyrinths and obtain all the ancient magics, otherwise when we face off with that guy, we'll get creamed. And we will face off with him, no doubt about it, considering I have a being attached to my soul that knows the truth about him, he won't let me continue to do as I please."

"I see, First off I'm sorry about that happening to you, and second off, your right. That shitty fucker won't let an irregular like you or your friends roam around freely for too long, trust me, I know."

"Great, so if you could just hand over your age of gods magic we'll be on our way," Anthony said.

Miledi wagged her finger in the "tsk, tsk" motion again. "No,no, that's not how this works you know. Just because you told me your story doesn't mean I'll just freely give you my power."

"But you just said-"

"I said I was sad for you, that doesn't mean I trust you," Miledi said, interrupting Anthony. "For all I know you could be worse than the shitty god himself, you yourself just told me you house a being of the same caliber as him, so, how do I know I can trust you?" Miledi asked, her voice going cold as ice.

Upon hearing Miledi's new tone of voice, everyone pulled out their weapons. Gone was her frivolous personality, now replaced by one of pure professionalism and duty, it seems they were finally seeing the true-self of the one known as Miledi Reisen.

"Well, only one thing left to do," Anthony mused.

"Yep, there is only one thing left," Miledi agreed.

Quickly opening the Treasure Trove Anthony took out some new weapons he had been working on. He called them Implosion Knives, and as the name suggests, they pack quite a punch. Throwing them at Miledi with great force, the knives impacted, digging into her armor, before exploding with great force. A plume of smoke covering the golems entire body.

"Is it over," Shea asked.

"**Not by a fucking longshot," **Kur said.

When the smoke cleared Miledi was still floating, her armour beginning to slowly repair itself.

"Oh boy, that was a good first attack, really it was a nice one. But… try harder if you want to bring me down!"

"Everyone jump now!" Shea yelled.

Doing as instructed everyone jumped away to a nearby block, as the block they were just standing on a moment ago dropped right out of the air, as if nothing was holding it up at all.

"Good job, Shea," Alec said, patting his sister on the head briefly as they landed on a nearby block that was floating upwards.

"Thanks," Shea said smiling. She had been practicing her Divination skill daily, and although she still couldn't control it, and it absorbed a good portion of her mana, if she and others surrounding her were close to death her ability would automatically kick in preventing it.

"So you dodged it huh." Miledi mused.

"Of course we did," Anthony roared, on a new block with Arturia and Yue. "and anyway I've figured your ancient magic, you control gravity, right?"

"Bingo, you figured me out. My ancient magic is gravity magic, just as you've guessed," Miledi explained. "Even so, just because you know what my magic is, doesn't mean you can beat me." With a wave of her hand Miledi summoned the golem knights to her side, them floating in the air beside her.

'**Anthony, I'm sensing massive power source inside the Miledi golem. Not only is it the core for the others, but destroying it will stop her.'**

'Thanks partner.' Anthony had a target now. "Guys listen up," he shouted, drawing in his comrades attention, "aim for Miledi's core, she's the lynchpin in all this, crush her and the rest will go down. Kur says the core is where her heart is supposed to be."

"Oh, that old man talks to much," Miledi said. "Now I'm super pissed off!"

With a wave of her hand Miledi sent her golems to attack everyone.

Anthony took out more of his Implosion knives from the Treasure Trove and aimed them at the golem knights, taking them down with deadly accuracy. At his side Yue poured her mana into Gae Bolg, creating a torrent of wind around it, for Anthony had enhanced her weapon as he did Shea's and Alec's. Swingin her spear, she sent blades of wind forward slicing the golem approaching her into ribbons. Lastly was Arturia who sliced a huge number of golems to ribbons with her sword, unleashing a slash of light at them. The three of them were on top of their game.

Meanwhile the siblings were dealing with Miledi.

"Stay still you big boobed bunny!" Miedi roared as she aimed her flaming fist at Shea.

"Stop calling me that!" Shea yelled in protest, jumping to another floating platform avoiding Miledi's punch.

"Now,now, I'm only saying what's true," Miledi retorted, her fist smoking with plumes once again.

As Miledi focused on Shea, Alec had gained the high ground, jumping from platform to platform until he was above Miledi, then without hesitation he jumped downward, his body becoming coated in green electricity along with Soothsayer.

"That's too predictable," Miledi chided. Pulling the chain, she swung the spiked ball upward, directing it right at Alec, Feeling no fear, he countered it, swinging Soothsayer downward, as the two weapons collided, an audible sonic boom was created, neither giving an inch. Seeing her chance Shea decided it was time to strike.

Breaking into a run she jumped from platform to platform, getting up close with Miledi, who through out her free hand to intercept Shea once again, but this time she was ready. Jumping over Miledi's flaming fist Shea landed on her arm, then with great forced kicked off, and ignited her mana.

"Take this, you rotten person!" Shea screamed, as she spun, gaining momentum, right before Gungnir hit Miledi dead center in her chest.

The force was so great, it created a massive shockwave, that actually forced the floating Miledi golem to fall back, freeing Alec from his standoff with her spiked ball weapon. As Miledi continued to fall backwards, her armor around her heart cracked open, leaving visible lines throughout the rest.

"Did we do it," Shea murmured as she landed on a platform.

Alec wondering the same thing focused on the damage Shea had done, and went pale. "Anthony, guys, we have a big problem!"

Hearing Alec's shout everyone turned their attention to Miledi and saw what Alec meant.

"Fuck, her cores made from Azantium," Anthony grimaced.

Azantium was the hardest substance known in Tortus known to be practically unbreakable unless one applied enough force, and now the condition they needed for victory was to achieve just that.

"Hehe, surprised, aren't you," Miledi teased, as her armour had already begun to repair itself. "I said this won't be easy, and more to the point," Miledi focused her sights on Shea, "what was with that rotten person comment earlier big boobed bunny?"

"Don't play dumb," Shea roared, pointing right at Miledi, "you know exactyl what I mean with those disgusting traps and annoying comments, are you trying to piss people off!"

Shea it seemed had reached her breaking point.

"Hehe, I don't know what you mean. I was just being me, Miledi-"

"You need to fix that rotten personality of yours!" Alec roared, diving in from the sky and delivering a lighting clad axe strike to Miledi's exposed chest.

The resulting attack, pushed her even further toward the ground, and even formed the tiniest crack on her Azantium core.

"Hey, let me finish!" Miledi whined. "I'm trying to say I'm not a rotten person!"

"No your super rotten."

"Nhn, so rotten I want to punish you."

"How Oscar put up with you I'll never understand."

"You… you bastards!" Miledi roared. "Stop bullying me!" She cried, flying back up to her fighting position. Taking hold of her chain Miledi swung it into a wide arc, going from left to right, smashing the platforms everyone was one before they had time to react.

"That'll teach you!" Miledi yelled, but no one responded as she reeled her chain weapon back in. "Oh that's right, I killed them." Now along Miledi released a sigh. "Honestly I thought they were kinda ok, but well, if they can't survive this, then facing that shitty bastard would have been impossible for them. Rest in peace."

"Who the fuck are giving a eulogy for, you rotten girl."

Looking up, Miledi saw none other than Anthony standing on a platform, Frsostmourne resting on his shoulder.

"You're alive!" Miledi exclaimed. "Wait, more the point, why are you dressed sorta like O-kun?"

"You mean my clothes," Antony patted them, "well I liked Oscars wardrobe so much I kinda borrowed it a bit."

"Geh, are you some kind of stalker of O-kun?" Miledi shouted in fake surprise.

Anthony responded with a blank expression on his face before he gave a thumbs up in Milady's direction.

"What's that's suppose to m-"

Appearing behind Miledi were two demonic shaped rabbit shadows, it was Alec and Shea, pissed off. The siblings imbued their weapons with fire magic, and hit Miledi right on her head, forcing her body down toward the ground. Then from her front came Arturia who had activated the light spell Sacred Power, one which boosted a person's physical and magical abilities for a short period of time, with Excalibur coated in light magic Arturia attacked Miledi dead center, the blow finally having enough force to send her toppling to her back.

"Yue now!" Anthony shouted.

"On it." Yue cast the water spell Water Pulse which created a massive orb of water to attack the opponent, only when Yue cast the spell, it was twice the size of Milady's golem. Yue dropped it directly on her, drenching her from head to toe.

"What are you trying to give me a bath or something," Miledi joked.

"No, but we are about to achieve victory," Anthony responded. Jumping down to the floor he jammed Frostmourne into the ground, and the water spread around instantly froze into ice. Even Miledi who was only coated in water, was trapped firmly in ice from head to toe, cracks beginning to form in her metal.

"Even if you are a golem, metal is still metal no matter what, and when exposed to extremely high or low temperatures it bends and breaks." Anthony explained.

When everything was said and done, Miledi now lay on the floor, encased in ice.

"Give up," Anthony said, walking over to Miledi, "if you move to much your armour will crack on its own. You've been checkmated."

To Anthony's words Miledi didn't respond at all.

'What the hell, she was so chatty a moment ago, and now she's dead quiet.' Anthony was getting a very bad feeling.

"Look out!"

Shea tackled Anthony to the ground, and it was a good thing she did, for where he was just standing, a block dropped from the sky, crushing it.

"Shea," Anthony looked down at Shea wrapped around his waist, "you saved me, thank you."

"Hehe, it was nothing," Shea said, a blush on her face and ears twitching in happiness, "but if you really want to thank me, a kiss would be good t- Agh!"

Like Magic Yue appeared and poked Shea in the butt with an inflamed Gae Bolg. "Perverted rabbit, you need to be punished."

"Guys!" Arturia shouted. "We don't have time for that, we have bigger things to worry about." She pointed upward.

As everyone looked at the sky, they saw it. All the blocks that had been floating were now raining down towards them with a vengeance. If just one hit them, they were dead.

"Fufu, I'll admit you had a good run," Miledi spoke, "but no one has ever been able to survive my finisher. See in the next life, and remember one important thing for me. I'm not rotten! Ok."

"You most certainly are," Anthony retorted, "and second of all, we're not dying here."

Picking up both She and Yue Anthony ignited his Jet Boots and began to jump, in the same fashion Arturia ignited her own, and Alec imbued his body with lightning magic again, zipping through the air like a bolt. The three individuals used everything they had, evading the blocks by a hairs' breadth, but they were slowing down. As the blocks kept coming each of them was feeling weariness begin to creep up.

'Dammit no! We're so close we can't stop here! I know we can do it!' Anthony's mana began to burst forth from his body. "We're not done yet!" Without even realizing it Anthony had just unlocked a new skill derived from Void magic.

"**Get ready everyone, things are about to get a bit crazy," **Kur said, happiness in his voice.

No one had any clue what he meant, until shadows exploded from Anthony's body and began to swallow them all up. Having no time to object everyone just put faith in their friend/lover and hoped he knew what he was doing.

Once everyone was swallowed by his shadows Anthony himself retreated into them, disappearing fully.

The blocks rained down, until they didn't anymore, and when they had stopped, from their shadows appeared Anthony and everyone else, shocking Miledi to no end.

"Impossible, you should be dead right now!"

"But we aren't, and now it's time to finish this!"

Taking to the air Anthony threw Frostmourne with all his might, the blade landing right in Miledi's chest, creating a crack.

"Hmph, is that a-"

"Alec, Shea, do it!"

"Right!" The twins yelled in unison.

Alex imbung his body with earth magic swung down Soothsayer, widening the wound, then jumping out of the way, Shea delivered the final blow, Spinning in a circle as she descended from the air, the force she amassed was great, not to mention her body strengthening. With one final twirl Shea smashed Frostmourne with incredible power, causing it to crack Miledi's core.

The battle was over, and Miledi had lost. While Anthony's group had won.

* * *

Standing atop the prone golem of Miledi Shea was jumping with joy, her ears rapidly twitching side to side. "We did it, we really did it!" She happily exclaimed, as everyone else arrived to share in the glory.

"Shea, you did well." Alec complimented his sister.

"Yeah Shea, nice job." Arturia said, giving her a light pat on the back.

"Good job, Shea, you really came through when it counted," Anthony said.

"You did alright." Yue said, even so, she had a faint smile on her face.

"Thanks you guys," Shea said with a blush, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. All the praise was making her extremely happy she had decided to join with Anthony and his group, she felt she and her brother had finally found the special people her mother spoke of many years ago.

"How touching."

Everyone looked down to see the light in Miledi's eyes back.

"It seems we need to deliver another finishing blow." Anthony said, retrieving Frostmourne and releasing a dark aura.

If you're wondering why Anthony's sword didn't break, it's because he made it from Azantium itself, and reinforced it.

"Wait,wait, wait!" Miledi begged, seeing the demonic visages of everyone, they were going to show her no mercy. "I'm really not in any shape to fight, I just want to have a chat is all, please believe me!"

"Kur, she telling the truth." Anthony inquired.

"**She is, you definitely struck the core."**

"Alright then, everyone stand down."

Everyone stood down, making Miledi breathe a sigh of relief.

"So, what do you want to talk about," Anthony asked, his arms crossed.

"Well, it's less of a chat and more of a warning. Those guys you're going to end up fighting, their some really bad guys you know, and they'll do anything to win."

"I know, I know," Anthony said, waving Miledi off, "more importantly, I have two question for you."

"Go ahead, I'm finished."

"One," Anthony lifted up a finger, "do you know of anyway to send me and my friends back to ur own world, and two," Anthony raised a second finger, "where are the locations of the other great labyrinths? The only ones we know of not lost to the bowels of history are the Orcus Great Labyrinth and the Grand Gruen Volcano, there's also the one in the Sea of Trees, but we can't even attempt that one until we meet certain requirements. I know you know what I'm talking about."

"Yep I sure do. Ah, Tillis-chans magic sure is nice, why I remember-" Anthony's foot raced past Miledi's head, a dark smile on his face. "Right, I'll tell it properly!" Miledi cried, scared of Anthony's look. "Well to your first question I don't know of a method per se, but, there is one way you might be able to make your wish come true."

"What is it?"

"Just do what you've been doing. If you obtain the ancient magics from all us Liberators then you can most likely make a way home for you and your classmates."

That just reassured Anthony and everyone else, their path of clearing the Liberators labyrinths was the correct choice.

"As for the locations of the other labyrinths. The trial of Perseverance, located at Grand Gruen Volcano. The trial of Madness, located at the Sunken Ruins of Melusine, off the coast of the coastal city Erisen. The trial of Will located, at the Divine Mountain. The trial of Bonds, located at the Haltina Great Tree in the Sea of Trees. Lastly, the trial of Self, located in the Schnee Snow Fields, that's all." Miledi finished.

"Oh boy," Anthony murmured. While he was happy to know and confirm the locations of the other great labyrinths two of them were going to be a slight problem.

The Divine Mountain was not only located in the center of Helleigh Kingdom, but also the home of the Holy Church itself, then there was the Schnee Snow Fields. That labyrinth was located deep in the Demons territory, the enemies of all humanity and pretty much anyone else but themselves. Conquering those two labyrinths were going to be the hardest of them all, just based on location alone.

"That's all I have to say," Miledi said weakly, her voice beginning to fade, "you'd better remember it well."

"Miledi what's wrong," Yue asked.

"Nothing at all, my times up is all. I used the last of my power to have this quick chat with you all, but now it… seems… to be… fading." The dimmer the light got, the less Miledi was able to talk.

"Miledi, I was wrong before, you're really ok," Arturia said.

"Hehe thanks, and good luck to you…. All… god… slayers… you… will… be…" Her last words done the light went out, meaning Miledi Reisen was no more.

"Well let's get a move on then."

"Yeah, lets."

Anthony and Alec weren't fazed at all by Miedi's passing, they just walked right past the golem and over to the platform that would take them up to the entrance waiting for them.

"How cruel!" Shea yelled/cried at her crush and brother. "Don't you guys have any respect for Miledi, she actually wasn't horrible at all. She was really helpful and gave us advice!"

"No, Shea you're the only one who doesn't get it," Alec said. "That rotten personality, and that cold personality, they were both Miledi."

Shea upon hearing these words gained a confused look. Looking to Yue and Arturia for confirmation, they nodded at Alec's words.

"Yeah Shea trust us, no way someone can fake being that rotten," Anthony said.

"Even so, she just died right in front of us, read the mood you too," Shea scolded, as she and the others joined them on the platform.

Once all were on board, it went up to the doors, and they opened, revealing pitch blackness like at the entrance. After everyone was inside the room was illuminated with a bright light, and standing there in the center of the room was…

"Hey ho, it's me Miledi again!"

A Miledi golem.

Yes, standing their only about a foot tall was a Miledi golem dressed in a dark paige cloak, only her hands and face visible, them being all white, and her golem face looking like it was doodled on.

…

"I don't understand, didn't you just die?"

"Nhn that's right, Miledi just died."

"This is a dream, right?"

"No, no, it's not a dream. It's really me, the great Miledi. I didn't know if my acting would work, but it turns out I'm pretty great at it, huh," Miledi asked, a bashful look on her face.

She didn't realize her annoyingness was only adding to the tension.

The only ones that weren't surprised in the slightest were Anthony, Alec, and Kur. Anthony and Alec because they thought it through, if Miledi died after facing just one challenger then what was the point of her guarding her labyrinth in the first place, also, how else could they explain the platform moving without someone to control it. For Kur knowing was simple, he was able to sense Milady's true soul now that he was in a close enough vicinity, but he kept quiet because… he found it to be extremely funny.

"**Hahahaha, oh man, that was too good!" **Kur bellowed, laughing his ass off at Miledi's trick.

"So, aren't you happy to see me huh? Come one, tell me how you feel, hm."

Before Miledi knew it, everyone was surrounding her, and looking at their faces she noticed cold smiles.

"Mledi, punishment time."

"I can finally smash this rotten person to death!"

"I defended you, I won't make that same mistake again."

The girls all began to radiate killing intent, Miledi falling to her knees in fear.

"Hey, wait a minute, I'm truly sorry ok," Miled frighteningly said. It did nothing to deter the girls from their path. "Really this golem is very old, you know, if it breaks I really will die!" The girls kept coming. "Please, let's call a truce, I really am sorry!" It seems nothing Miledi said was going to stop the girls from attacking her, and before she knew it, she had backed up into Anthony's legs.

Shouting Anthony and Alec a pleading gaze, Miledi desperately wanted them to save her.

"No can do," Alec said, "if you don't get punishment you'll never shape up."

"Don't worry we won't kill you, but you do need to learn a lesson in proper manners, Mi-led-di." Anthony said, punctuating Miledi's name.

Miledi was trapped, leaving her no route to escape.

"... NOOO!..."

That day Miledi became a little less rotten.

* * *

**A/N**

**Long chapter I know, but now I can start getting into my original content more. Also some more lemons will be coming your way. I know I'm not good at writing them, but like wit all things it takes time.**

**Anyway, please review and comment.**


	12. Chapter 12

Standing the magical circle, everyone was ready to go.

"Honestly, you guys are monster," Miledi said, a tear hanging in her eye. On her head were massive red bumps from the beating everyone had just given her.

"Nhn, be quiet and just get to it," Yue said.

"Roger," Miled exclaimed, going into perfect military salute, "I really will do it seriously this time!"

"That's better." Yue said.

Miledi cried a bit, but she did her duty, activating the magic circle, it glowed white for a few seconds before dying down.

"As I thought, gravity magic," Anthony said

"Yeah, I told you that," Miledi commented.

"Yeah, but I didn't know if I could trust that," Anthony retorted, "you could've been lying to us."

"Just what kind of person do you think I am," Miledi asked in mock hurt.

Anthony gave her a deadpan look. "You really don't want me to answer that one."

"Whatever," Miled said, waving Anthony off. "Anyway, you three blondies have some good affinity with this magic, especially the red-eyed one. With enough time and training she'll become master." Miledi then eyed the Haulia siblings. "As for you two," Miledi first pointed to Alec, "brown bunny boy here has some aptitude with it. If applied properly you could create your own gravity zone, making things lighter or heavier as you see fit."

"I see, thank you." Alec said.

"As for the big boobed bunny, she has no aptitude at all." Miledi shout Shea a smug grin. "The only thing she could use it for is changing her own weight."

"The first ancient magic, and it's pretty much the same power I already have." Shea sadly said, she ended up crouching on her knees in the corner, a cloud of depression hanging over here.

"Oh, Miledi." Anthony called.

"Sir!" Miled said, once again standing at attention.

"The proof please." Anthony put out his hand.

"Right." Miled reached into her robe, and pulled out her ring, tossing it to Anthony who caught it.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

"**Great, now that the formalities are out of the way, let's talk about you Miledi." **Kur said.

"Me, why whatever do you mean?"

"**You can't fool me girly, your spirit isn't long for this world, correct."**

Hearing Kur's statement, everyone looked at Miledi golem, who stood there in complete silence.

"Hehe, guess I can't fool you, huh Kur. Yeah, it's true, I'm really going to die."

The weight of Milady's words hit everyone like bricks.

"Nhn, your serious this time, Miledi."

Miledi nodded. "Yep, it's not a lie. The battle with you guys took a large portion of my strength, in fact I only have enough left for one more battle."

"But, but we didn't break the golem," Shea said, tears beginning to form in her eyes, "so why are you going to die?"

"**It's her spirit." **Kur said. **"Her body is exquisitely made, but unless the body is strong enough to house the spirit it's holding, then if the spirit expends too much energy they'll pass on to the next world."**

"Yes, what Kur said is true," Miledi said. She placed her hands to her chest lovingly. "This golem is very precious to me, that someone made for me a longtime ago, but I knew it would never last forever. I wasn't expecting it to anyway, I only needed it to last until I met you," Miledi looked up at them, a brightness in her golem eyes, "those that could conquer our trials. And after having met you I can truly say, you'll make the best choice for this world, and let it truly be free."

Upon hearing Miledi's declaration Shea couldn't hold back anymore, she began to shed tears of sadness, but it wasn't just her, Arturia also began to cry. As for everyone else, they couldn't look Miledi in the eye. All they could do was wonder, how long she had waited to say those words, how long she had waited for a light to brighten up the darkness, how long she had been alone. They couldn't even fathom it. Not even Yue who had been in a similar situation could understand Miledi's resolve. It truly was, praiseworthy.

"You guys, please don't cry for me," Miledi asked. Though truthfully if she still had her human body, she would be crying as well, tears of happiness, over the fact that people who had just met her, were already crying over her death.

"No, it's not over," Anthony said, drawing everyone's attention. "What if we got you a new body, would that work, Miledi?"

"You know what you're saying right," Miledi asked Anthony, "you would need a body capable of housing my soul, and those aren't just found lying around anywhere you know."

"I know, but… call me conceited but I think we can save you from dying."

Anthony's statement shocked everyone.

"What I mean is, I don't want you to die just yet. We just met you, and despite everything I really like you and want to get to know you more, and the same could be said for everyone else here."

Anthony got a chorus of nods from everyone else.

"I know everyone dies eventually, but maybe you can stay a bit longer and hang out with us?"

Miledi who heard Anthony's words would have certainly been shedding tears if she had her human body. She was so truly grateful to receive such kindness.

"Alright, I guess." Miledi said, eliciting cheers from everyone. "But as you said it won't be easy you know. To begin with, you need to obtain the age of gods magic that made me a golem in the first place, and it's located in the Divine Mountain."

"Right." Anthony said, nodding his head. "Can you give us anymore details?"

"I could, but where would the fun in that be, you are on an adventure after all."

"Miledi seriously." Anthony deadpanned at her, only to receive a smirk in return. "Well whatever. As soon as we find a body for you and conquer the Divine Mountains labyrinth we'll come back and see you again. Ok?"

"Yep, yep." Miledi said, nodding.

On that day Miledi apologized. Apologized to the people that were waiting for her in the next world, it seems she might be sticking around in the land of the living a bit longer.

* * *

After saying their goodbyes to Miledi and her supplying them with some materials so Anthony and Arturia could make more unique artifacts she sent them off, through a magic circle. She also informed them if they were haughty with her they would have gone out the other entrance. A giant flushing mechanism.

They were all really glad they were nice to her.

The magic circle took the group back to Brooke Town of all places, a bit of relief showing itselfs in them, as they didn't have to trek all the way back to town, tonight they would all get a nice meal and a warm bed to sleep in.

Using the same inn they used last time, the group got all they had asked for, rising early the next morning they headed to the Adventurers Guild to drop off more monster materials, but also for information.

"Grand Gruen Volcano?"

"Yes, we heading their next, any information you can give us would be very much appreciated Catherine." Anthony said.

Last night at a meeting on which labyinrth to conquer next Anthony had suggested they head for the two on Tortus's western edge, Grand Guren Volcano, and the Melusine Sea Ruins.

When asked by the other why, he explained that he wanted to be prepared a possible. They had no clue what the Trial of Will in the Divine Mountain required of them, it might even them require to conquer a set of other labyrinths before entering it, just like the one in the Sea of Trees. That was not even mentioning the fact that the Divine Mountain held the seat of the Holy Church, Ehit's lap dogs in Tortus, Anthony expressed that he would fill much safer wielding the power of four ancient magics instead of just two when facing off against them. Seeing his reasoning as sound, everyone agreed, and so they had set Grand Guren Volcano as their next target.

"Grand Guren Volcano. It's been dormant for some time now, and lies in the Grand Guren Desert in the western parts of Tortus. Braving it is not for the faint of heart, so I suggest stocking up well for attempting to enter it." Catherine said.

"Right, but where is the best place to do that," Anthony inquired.

"You should go the Fuhren."

"Fuhren?"

"It's a free city-state, and also the biggest merchant hangout on the humans' side of the continent. You can pretty much find anything and everything there," Arturia explained.

"Exactly right young lady. Going to Fuhren first would be the best." Catherine suggested.

"Well alright, we'll do that then," Anthony said.

"Also take this." Catherine handed Anthony a sealed letter. "This is just in case you run into any trouble, give it to the head of the Fuhren Adventurer's Guild, and everything should be resolved."

"What's it say," Anthony asked.

Catherine gave him a sly wink. "Now, now, a woman's got too have her secrets."

Anthony didn't mind, he trusted Catherine. Thanking her for all her help, the group set off for Fuhren.

Having no clue they were about to get dragged into another mess.

* * *

Anthony was not happy one bit, not at all.

Currently he and everyone else were in the Fuhren adventurers guild masters office, the man himself sitting across from them on one of the two couches he had in his office.

The reason they were there, they beat the shit out of a pig.

When the group arrived in Fuhren, as always the girls garnered the attention of others, their beauty and style putting most other women to shame. Then as the group was enjoying lunch a short fat kid of a noble came up to them, and demanded to purchase and take the other girl off Athony's hands.

Anthony being the kind of guy he was continued eating, ignoring the little flea near his ear, because if he didn't, then he would have killed it in an instant.

Getting fed up with being ignored the pig faced noble summoned his bodyguard to teach the group a lesson. A black-ranked adventurer whose power would have been enough to make most people shake with fear, but then again Anthony and the others were not most people.

Finally having had enough with being bothered during their lunch the group decided to finally handle the annoyance near them.

The girls wanting to show everyone around that they were not defenseless damsels easily beat the shit out of the black-ranked adventurer. They didn't kill him of course, since he was just doing his job and they understood that, they weren't heartless monsters after all.

As for their boss, he had a different fate.

When the pig-faced noble saw his protection so easily defeated, he began to sweat with fear and try to make a run for it. Only for his face to meet the end of Anthony's shoe, as he stepped on the pig-faced nobles head, driving it into the ground, his blood and teeth scattering as he took the blow.

With that, the matter had been settled, or so everyone thought, until the vice-leader of the guild showed up, wanting to get a read on the entire situation. Not wanting to deal with it too much. Anthony showed him the letter he had gotten from Catherine, and when the vice-leader of the guild saw it, he lead them to where they were currently.

Face to face with his boss. An older gentleman with slicked back blonde hair and blue eyes who went by the name Ilwa Chang.

Everyone could tell just by looking at him, the man was sly as a fox.

Clasping his hands in front of him, Ilwa leaned in, sizing everyone up. "So you must be that group, huh?"

"What group are you referring to?" Anthony asked, his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned back on his couch.

Ilwa looked toward the glass windows behind his desk, showcasing Fuhren in the background, "I've heard rumors of a group of unknown warriors to ventured into Reisen Grand Gorge, and stirred up quite the mess."

"Don't know what you're talking about," Anthony retorted, knowing it would be a hassle to get involved with the adventurer guild when they were trying to lay low, "and as you just said yourself, all it is is rumors."

"Yes, you're quite right…"

"Anthony, my name is Anthony."

"Anthony," Ilwa turned back to face the group again, "I see. Nice to meet you young Anthony and company."

"Likewise." Anthony said, everyone else nodding in agreement.

"So, how do you know Catherine?" Ilwa asked them, his tone sounding happy.

"We met her in Brooke Town and she helped us out. Also said to give that," Anthony pointed to Catherine's letter that was on the table, "to the head of the Fuhren adventurer guild in case we needed anything or ran into any trouble. And as you already know, trouble found us."

"Yes, sorry about that." Ilwa said, apologizing.

Anthony nodded, while his gaze sat on Catherine's letter. "No offense sir, but how do you know Catherine?"

Ilwa got a nostalgic look on his face. Opening the letter on the table more he took out a picture showing him as a boy with a young lady by his side. "Catherine worked her for many years doing the guilds financial books. Helped many of us starting out back then."

While Ilwa explained, everyone else could only stare at the photo of a young Catherine more, seeing how time really does change some people.

"I-I see," Anthony said, clearing his throat, "well if there's nothing else, we'll be on our way."

"Wait just a moment please," Ilwa spoke, "if you're not busy, may I ask you to fulfill a little request on my behalf."

'Dammit!' Anthony mentally cursed. They were almost home free, but now the guild master had requested something of them, and Anthony had a sneaking suspicion he wouldn't let them leave until he was heard out. So rather than fight it, he decided to go along with it. "Let's hear it."

Ilwa smiled, getting up from the couch and going to stand in front of his office windows, facing forward. "A few days ago, the third son of Count Cudeta, Will Cudeta went missing on the northern mountain regions. We've lost all contact with him and his party, so I would like you to go, and look for them, and bring them back."

"A moment guild master," Arturia said. "You said this is a personal request no, not one from the guild."

Ilwa turned around to face them showing a complicated expression on his face. "That's right. Despite protest from his parents, young Will wanted to be an adventurer, and since I've known the count since I was young, he asked me to keep an eye out on his son. So I selected party members who I thought could bring him back alive, but I was wrong."

"So basically you want us to help you clean up your own mess," Anthony stated.

Ilwa nodded his head in agreement.

"Why should we?" Arturia questioned. "As the guild master you have more than enough resources to hunt for Will and his party on your own, and even if you don't, if the count offered a reward for Will's safe return, then there would be no shortage of top ranked adventurer's lining up to take the job, so why ask us?"

"Because, the northern mountain regions are highly dangerous, teaming with monsters and dangers even the most experienced adventurer would have trouble with. Normal adventurers won't do, and waiting weeks, maybe months for someone of skill to take the job…" Ilwa shook his head. "Will and his party don't have that long."

"Still, you're asking us to do it for you." Arturia stated again.

"I know," Ilwa answered.

"We'll do it."

Everyone looked at Anthony like he was crazy. He just played it off, raising two fingers in the air, turning his head to meet Ilwa's, "however we have two condiitons that must be met."

"And those are?"

"We need three status plates made for our companions. And we want access to all the adventurer's guild resources, including knowledge and contacts."

"Why?" Ilwa asked.

Anthony expected nothing less, a person did not get to run a guild without being cautious.

"As to the first one, there Status Plates broke, so they need new ones."

"I'm sure," Ilwa said skeptically, eyeing Yue, Shea, and Alec.

Anthony shrugged his shoulders. "That's all your getting on that one. As for the second reason, well we just need it. When the church comes after us, things will get a bit dicey, so having information will be key."

"The church!" Ilwa bewilderedly said. "Just who are you people?"

Atnhony waved him off. "Don't worry about it. So, we have a deal or not?"

Ilwa didn't know how to reply. If he gave Anthony's group what they wanted they would go and save Will, but if he did and they turned out to be less than trustworthy… he didn't want to imagine the worse outcome possible.

"Hey," Anthony called to Ilwa, who snapped out of his daze, "not to rush you, but if you take to long we won't do it."

"But Will-"

"Is someone we've never met," Anthony said, cutting of Ilwa. "We've never met the kid, and yet your asking us to risk our lives for him. That's a bit unfair, don't you think?"

Ilwa had no retort for Anthony's logic.

"Plus, we've got time. Will doesn't have much left. Not to be rude, but we don't even know if he's still alive out there."

Again, Ilwa could say nothing about Anthony's logic. Even if he wished for Will to be alive with all his might, there was a possibility he was already dead. Ilwa knew that, and yet, he didn't want to give up hope. With that in mind, he had come to a decision.

"Alright, I'll meet the terms of your deal."

"Excellent.. We'll set out immediately," Anthony said, clapping his hands.

A small chuckle escaped Ilwa's lips. "Really, just who are you kids?"

To Ilwa's question, Anthony only smiled. "Why, just some travelers on a world trip."

Ilwa did not believe that for a second. He couldn't help but feel he was surrounded by monsters in his office at the moment.

* * *

'Huh' Aiko mentally sighed, her mood not to good.

Currently her world tour in Tortus was progressing smoothly, the group having stopped in the small lakeside town of Ur, which was famous for its peace and tranquility. Not only that, Ur had something that Aiko and her student bodyguards missed desperately from their old world.

Ur had rice.

The rice of Ur reminded the students and their teacher of home, but in doing so, it brought up their latent anxieties, the longing for home. But more than that, they were all feeling down for another reason, Aiko in particular.

A few days earlier, one of the students group by the name of Shimuzu Yukitoshi went missing. No one knew why, but one day Shimuzu said he was going up into the mountains to train, and never came back.

That was why Aiko was feeling particularly down at the moment. A student had disappeared on her watch, and her being a teacher, made it even more devastating, she was responsible for them and now having lost another, she didn't know how to properly move forward.

"Aiko-sama, are you ok?"

"Am, yes David, I am."

Aiko answered the commander of her knight protection force, David Zahark. Not only was he a Holy Templar Knight, considered an elite knight by the Holy Church, but he was also extremely handsome, baring golden hair that went to the nape of his neck, crystal blue eyes, and a chiseled jawline. David was the very definition of a reverse honey-trap, and exactly the reason Yuka and her group had wormed their way in to traveling with Aiko, to ensure the church did not get their hooks into her.

However what the students and Aiko herself did not know, was that the knights had no such orders to seduce Aiko. Rather, they fell for her natural charms, and were now more loyal to her than the church itself, even if they would never say it aloud. So rather than on the church's orders, the knights were attempting to seduce Aiko of their own volition, for they truly cared for her.

"Aiko, please don't lie to me," David said, flashing a smile, "if you can't be honest with us, then who can you be honest with?"

"Y-yes, I suppose you're right."

"Is it still about Shimuzu Ms. Aiko?" Hajime asked.

Yes that rights, Hajime was part of Aiko's bodyguard group. But not only him, the group consisted of Yuka, Nana, Takeo, another group of male classmates who were friends named Akito Nimura, Atushi Tamai, and Noboru Aikawa, and finally Kaori, since she was officially now Hajime's girlfriend.

Aiko once again sighed at Hajime's question. "Yes, it's just, I'm the teacher of you all, and so far, I haven't done much to protect you." Aiko said, her thoughts turning to Anthony who they had just loss only weeks earlier.

"Ms. Aiko, don't blame yourself." Yuka said. "We all knew the risks and we chose to fight, just like we're choosing to protect you now."

"Yeah, Yuka is right. We chose this, so cheer up," Takeo said.

Everyone else also asked Aiko to cheer up, wanting to see her smile again. Even David and his eyes did the same, but as you know, for a very different reason.

Hearing everyone's encouraging words Aiko couldn't help but smile.

As the mood around the party lightened, the owner of the inn they were currently staying at known as Water Sprite Inn, Foss Seluo approached. "I hope everything is to your liking," he asked, always making sure his customers had the best service.

"Yes, Seluo-san, everything is delicious," Aiko answered, loving being able to eat rice once again.

"Glad to hear it," Seluo said, a smile coming to his face, "also," he focused on Aiko, "glad to see your looking better as well, Ms. Aiko. Your expression before did not suit you one bit."

"Thank you, Seluo-san." Aiko said, accepting the innkeepers words of compliment.

She also ignored the stares of jealousy David and the other knights were sending Seluos' way. Aiko knew she was trying to be honey-trapped, but she really didn't mind, no rather she didn't believe David and the other knights guarding her could ever show her true feelings of love.

Aiko had never been the best with men, her child-like appearance throwing them off. And the ones that did show interest in her had a certain fetish that began with L, and ended with con. Which was not something Aiko as interested in, _not at all!_

So while she did accept the affection David and the other knights showed her, she would never reciprocate it back, at least not how she was currently.

"My pleasure Ms. Aiko," Seluo said, ignoring the hateful glares as well. "Oh I must inform you of one more thing. It seems another party will be staying at the inn as well."

"Really?" Aiko asked.

"Yes." Seluo confirmed. "It was last minute, but you see, their on a special assignment from the Fuhren guild master, so turning them away would be…"

"It's fine then." Aiko said.

"But Aiko," David interjected, "if these people have ill intentions toward you…"

"It's fine David," Aiko turned and flashed him another smile. "After all, isn't that why you're assigned to protect me?"

When seeing Aiko's smile once again, David's heart when "doki doki" and he stood at perfect attention, saluting Aiko. "I understand perfectly Aiko. We will allow the travelers to stay, and if they do have any ill intentions we shall smite them down," Daivd turned to his men, "right men?"

"Sir! Yes sir!" David's men shouted in unison, more than willing to lay down their lives for Aiko as well.

"Very good then." Seluo said. Bowing before taking his leave.

Then a few moments after Seluo, the door to the inn chimed open, and Aiko's group her voices.

But only voices, since a curtain was obstructing their view of the entrance.

"So, what is this curry stuff anyway, is it tasty?"

"Yeah, back home it's one of my favorite dishes. Trust me, you guys will love it."

"I've actually had it before, and it is quite delicious."

"I'll try anything at least once."

"If Anthony says it's good, then I'll try it."

Hearing the voices on the other side of the current, Aiko and her students dropped their utensils. For they had just heard two very familiar voices that should be impossible for them to hear, since they knew them to be dead.

Aiko wasting not a moment longer, stood up from her seat, raced to the other side of the current, and saw the group, making her almost pass out.

"Anthony, and Arturia!"

Anthony and Arturia looked up from their menus with everyone else, eyeing Aiko with surprise.

They did not expect this situation to come to pass. Not at all.

* * *

Staring into the face of Aiko, Anthony and Arturia did the only thing they could.

They focused on their menus and chose to ignore her completely.

"Hey don't ignore me!" Aiko yelled, although her temper tantrum only made her look cuter. "You're Anthony and Arturia, right?!" She asked, walking up to their table.

"Nope sorry." Arturia said.

"Yeah, you've got the wrong people." Atnhony said, ignoring Aiko as best he could.

"Don't lie to me. You reacted just now, when I called their names." Aiko said, making Anthony and Arturia ignore her more.

"To be fair mam, you did come around the corner like a crazy person and scream at them. Even I was a bit scared at that."

Turning to the voice of reason, Aiko came face to face with Alec.

"That's right. Yelling at someone out of nowhere. Ms. you must be a bit out there." Anthony said, grateful for Alec's reasoning to bale him out of the situation.

Aiko however did not back down. "No, no way. These two are Anthony Kusha a student in my class, and Arturia Ashworth, a fellow comrade of theirs. If you don't believe me, ask the knights here and they'll confirm it."

"Short lady. You're being annoying, so leave us alone." Yue said, not a hint of remorse in her voice.

When she heard the "short lady" comment, Aiko nearly fell into despair. But she didn't, because now she had finally set her sights on the rest of the group. Specifically, Shea, Alec, and Yue.

"Who are you three?" Aiko asked them.

Yue sighed, the whole thing a bother to her. "Well, if you must know, I'm Yue, one of Anthony's beloveds."

The casual way Yue had said beloved, made Aiko blush like a teenage girl.

"I'm Shea, also one of Anthony's be-" Alec smashed Shea on the head with his fist before she could finish.

"Don't listen to my sister's lies." Alec looked up from his menu to greet Aikko. "Hello, my name is Alec Haulia, a friend and traveling companion of Arturia and Anthony's. This," he pointed to Shea, "is my little sister sister. She falls into the same category, no matter what she says."

Having recovered Shea began to cry anime tears. "But it's not fair. Both Yue and Arturia get "that" kind of love from Anthony' so why can't I-"

"Plasma Bolt." Anthony muttered.

Shea was then struck with electricity before she could continue, no one at the table paying it any mind or reaching out to help her. They had seen it many times before.

As all this was going on, the Aiko protection squad of students was watching the whole thing, having parted the curtains separating their table from Anthony's group. Their reactions, about just what you would expect.

"That… that is Anthony and Arturia, right?" Kaori asked.

"Yeah. That's them." Yuka said, tears in her eyes. She was happy beyond words that Anthony was alive and well, but also… a bit pissed off. She had multiple questions she wanted to ask him, including the part about Arturia and Yue being his beloveds, and how Shea was obviously all over him.

"Hey, is it just me, or do they seem… different?" Nana asked.

Everyone agreed with her assessment.

"Also, who's that rabbit eared guy?" Nana asked, looking at Alec, a slight blush on her face.

"He said his name was Alec, right?" Taeko said.

"Alec, right, my mistake." Nana said.

"Right." Taeko said. "Moving on, I don't know what's changed other than him not wearing glasses, but Anthony's more… wild." Taeko smiled at her word choice. "Yeah, he's more wild. Kinda cool if you ask me."

As the girls were talking about Anthony and Arturia, the guys were feeling a bit down. And you know the reason why.

"He sure has gotten popular." Atushi said. Eyeing Yue, Shea, and Arturia.

"He even has a harem now." Hajime muttered.

Although it wasn't quite enough. Everyone at the table heard his words, and immediately turned to face him, with Yuka rushing up and grabbing him by the collar.

"W-what do you mean harem?" She asked, a massive blush on her face. She began to shake Hajime by his collar until he answered.

And while still being shaken, he answered. "Well, you see, a harem is comprised of someone who has three or more partners they are in a relationship with, and from what we just heard Anthony's fits the bill. He is in a relationship with you Yuka, Arturia, and that Yue lady. Now please stop shaking me." Hajime managed to get out.

Yuka let go of Hajime, and then began to hold her cheeks, a blush covering her entire face at steam began to come out of her ears. She didn't say a word to anyone, she just kept uttering the words, "harem, I'm part of a harem now," over and over again without fail. Looking ready to pass out.

Back on the other side, Aiko was giving Anthony a scolding for not immediately returning to their group and for becoming a womanizer, the latter of which he was not in the slightest. Ignoring Aiko's rant, Anthony decided enough was enough. He slammed his hand down on the table to draw Aiko's attention to him.

"Alright listen ms. Aiko. Yeah, it's me and Arturia. We're alive. But before we go on, let's make a deal. We'll eat with you guys and explain some things, but after that we're done. Got it."

"Yes." Aiko said, a bit scared by the look in Anthony's eyes.

He decided to slit them into dragon form while he talked with Aiko, figuring she would pay more attention to anything he had to say. Turns out, his hunch was right.

Placing the orders for their food with Seluo the groups decided to sit around Aiko's large table, Yuka giving Anthony the death stare with puffed out cheeks, ever since he had sat down.

To call the situation awkward would be and understatement.

"So, where to begin," Anthony mused, turning his gaze to Kaori and Hajime who were looking rather friendly with each other. "Ah, I see Hajime and Kaori are now officially a couple. Great for you two."

"Thanks." They both said in unison, blushes on their faces.

"I'm also a bit surprised Kouki let you go Kaori."

At Anthony's words, everyone eyed him with confusion on their faces. He then remembered only a small number of people knew about Kouki's attitude problem, but no worries, he knew how to save the situation.

"I just mean, you're a skilled healer, so he must have fought to keep you." Anthony explained, feeling he had saved himself from an even more awkward situation.

"Oh, how did you know?" Kaori asked.

"Call it a gut feeling." Anthony answered.

"Well your feeling is spot on Anthony," Nana said, "Kouki was almost throwing a tantrum when Kaori decided to join up with us and Nagumo."

"Really now?" Anthony said in fake surprise, knowing what kind of person Kouki truly was under his hero act.

"Yeah really," Takeo said. "If not for Shizuku calming him down, I think he might have tried to come along with us as well."

"Huh." Anthony took a sip of his water. 'Shizuku, I do not envy you at all.'

As Anthony placed his water cup back on the table, the food arrived. And after saying a prayer over it, everyone dug in.

"Ok, now that you've gotten your food, time to answer some of our questions." Aiko said. "First up, how did you guys survive falling into the labyrinth?"

"Some luck and hard work," Anthony answered in between bites of food.

"How did you get out?"

"Again, hard work."

"What happened to your glasses?"

"I worked so hard, I found a way to see without them?"

Aiko was getting more frustrated, while Anthony was as calm as ever, really enjoying eating curry again.

"Next question. Out of the girls in your group, how many are really your lovers?"

"Arturia and Yue, Shea is not one, no matter what she says. There's also Yuka, which reminds me," Anthony flashed Yuka a smile, "we really need to talk later."

Upon hearing Anthony confirmed he actually had three lovers. There were a number of reactions. Aiko once again blushed, Shea cried again for not even being in the running, Yuka blushed, along with Nana and Takeo, Hajime and Kaori just smiled, and Atsushi's group cried and cursed, but also praised Anthony for getting with such beautiful women.

The only one who didn't have a comical expression was David, no, he was rather pissed off. So much so, he smashed his fist against the table in anger, making everyone jump, except for Anthony and his group who stopped eating to look at him.

"Enough of this, do you know who you're talking to?!" David demanded from Anthony.

"Daivd, please calm down." Aiko begged.

David just shook his head. "My apologies Aiko, but I cannot and will not allow this scum," he pointed at Anthony, to disrespect you any longer!"

"Uh, just shut up. You're ruining the meal."

David turned his head to Arturia, the anger in his eyes becoming even worse. "Shut your mouth right now, Arturia, how dare you even still call yourself a knight of the kingdom!"

Arturia ate another bite of her food, looking at David.

"Don't ignore me girl! Faking your death, deserting the army, and," David turned his face to Shea and Alec, a disgusted look appearing on it, "consorting with demi-humans. How long can you go?"

"Right,right." Arturia said, a blank look on her face as she continued to eat her food.

"Show some damn respect, girl!" David moved his hand to his sword pommel, still eyeing both Shea and Alec. "Disgusting creatures, maybe cutting off your ears will-"

David did not get to finish his last sentence. In a split second, Alec imbued his fist with earth magic and delivered a punch to David's side. Not enough to kill him mind you, but enough to damage his body and send him flying into the nearest pillar, knocking him out in the process.

He did all this while still eating his food.

"David!" Aiko said with worry, as he crashed into the pillar.

As he did Anthony and the rest finished with their meal, satisfying looks on their faces.

"Ah that was good." Anthony said.

"It was really delicious." Yue said.

"Anthony, can you make this?" Shea asked, drooling a bit even if she just ate.

"Yes, it was good." Alec said.

"Really it was." Artura said.

Completely ignoring the unconscious David, Anthony's group was having a nice conversation about food. Like nothing had just happened.

As Aiko checked on David, Anthony and his group got up from the table and headed toward the exit. But not before Aiko called out to them.

"Wait. You still haven't answered any of my questions."

The group stopped, Anthony turning around to look at Aiko and his classmates, especially Yuka who was looking down.

"Listen guys." Anthony scratched the back of his head. "What we've been doing, what we've been through, how we got out of the labyrinth. If we tell you… you'll be killed."

Everyone heard Anthony's warning and assumed he was joking, but when they say his eyes, they knew he wasn't. He was dead serious, telling them if they pushed for anymore information, their lives were going to end.

So with nothing else to say, Anthony and his group left the inn dining area, leaving everyone left behind with more questions than answers.

* * *

Night had finally come around. Meaning it was time for everyone to sleep.

As Aiko entered her room after saying goodnight to David's whose injuries were not life-threatening, she sighed, her head hung low, as she was lost in thought.

She was not happy with the way things were going with her students at all.

First Shimuzu had disappeared, and now having found both Anthony and Arturia alive, she realized both had changed considerably since their last encounter. To her it was feeling like was a loss, and that she wasn't performing her duties at a teacher at all.

"Sensei, you shouldn't sight like that. It'll make you grow older faster."

"Ag-" Before Aiko could scream, a hand was placed over her mouth.

As the clouds moved out of the way and illuminated the room with moonlight, it showed the person using their hand to silence Aiko's screams. It was none other than Anthony.

He leaned down and began to whisper in her ear. "Sensei, I'm about to take my hand away, so don't scream, ok."

Aiko gave a muffled noise of agreement.

Taking his teacher as his word, Anthony removed his from her mouth, backing up from her personal space a bit.

"Anthony what's the meaning of this, and how did you even get into my room?" Aiko asked, as Anthony stood with his arms folded, looking at her.

"Both questions are about to be answered, but first, you need to come with for a bit."

"Why?"

"Because, I'm about to relive the truth of this word to you and the others, and I'd rather not repeat myself."

Anthony snapped his fingers and a shadow portal appeared, making Aiko shocked. She had no idea what was really going on, but something told her, if she followed Anthony, she would learn an important truth.

So she agreed to his terms, and they stepped through his portal, into the night.

* * *

Stepping out of the portal, Anthony and Aiko ended up in the room shared by Nana, Taeko, and Yuka, but they were not alone. All of the other students, and Anthony's group were there as well, all awaiting their arrival.

Looking around, Anthony nodded his head. "Good, we're all here. Yue and Arturia, if you please."

The girls nodded flaring their magic, to activate protection spells around the entire room. Nodding at Anthony once it was finished.

Seeing this, he took a seat in the chair against the wall and faced everyone, a serious expression now painting his face. "Ok, listen everyone, what I'm about to tell you cannot leave this room. Under no circumstances can you share this information with anyone. Not your knight escort, not Meld, and not Kouki's group, if you do their lives are forfeit. I mean it. Now, please nod if you understand me."

Everyone nodded, a bit scared at how Anthony was acting.

"Good, so here it is, the truth of this world that me, Yue, and Arturia learned in the Orcus labyrinth. As you know by now magic is real, so it stands to reason gods are real as well."

Everyone nodded.

"Good, you understand. So a long time ago there were many gods that lived in Tortus, creating it and building it up from the ground up. Then as millenia passed, those gods either left or died out, all except one,Ehit." Anthony gripped the arms of the chair, his anger showing for all to see. "But you see, Ehit is not benevolent god, in fact he is a depraved god who gets off playing with people's lives. For centuries, this god has been setting the humans of this world, the demons, and the demi-humans against each other in never ending conflict."

The words Anthony spoke shocked everyone.

"Ehit has been doing this for centuries, but not unopposed. You see two thousand years ago in Tortu's time, a certain individual discovered the truth of the mad god. He couldn't have that of course, so he tried to have them killed, but thankfully they survived, and escaped, forming a group to stop the mad once and for all, known as the Liberators. Sadly it didn't work out all that well for them. Ehit turned the people against them, branding the Liberators as we know today yo be the Mavericks. He thought he was home free, but little did he know, the Liberators don't give up so easily. They gave those of the future a way to fight the mad god, and that way comes in the form of the Great Labyrinths. They are the Liberators trial, and once you pass them, you received age of gods magic. And I just learned that if I conquer all of the Liberators labyrinths, then I'll be able to make a way for us all to go back home."

Anthony finished the story, letting it sink in. Looking at everyone's face he saw a mixture of emotions: shock, fear, anger, but most of all, he saw the one emotion he wished to see above all others, it was hope.

If they had hope, then he was sure telling them was the right thing to do.

"We, we need to tell Kouki!" Kaori screamed, finally coming out of her shock.

"We can't." Anthony retorted, his voice firm.

"Why not," Atsushi asked, "for that matter, how do we even know you're telling the truth?!"

Anthony expected this reaction. If the roles were reversed he wouldn't believe the person telling him the information either, which is why he prepared for this exact scenario.

Calling forth his magic, Anthony flicked his wrist in a slight motion.

"Ah!" Yuka screamed, as she along with everyone else floated into the air.

Anthony using his hand, moved them from side to side, everyone staring at him like he was some sort of monster.

"Atsushi, this is gravity magic. This is my proof."

Seeing Atsushi realized Anthony was telling the truth, he put them all down then stopped his mana flow, turning to face Kaori. "Now Kaori, as to why we can't tell Kouki, the Holy church is Ehit's pawn. Well no, I shouldn't say that. What I mean is, the pope and most of the upper echelons are Ehit's pawns. You've all seen how devout that guy is, and how he gave us vague information on everything. My gut is telling me that guy is a fanatic who won't listen to anything we say, he will in fact try to silence us."

"All the more reason we need to tell Kouki and the others." Kaori said.

"No, and here's why Kaori. You know Kouki better than most of us here. What exactly do you think he'll do if he finds out he's been lied to this whole time? I'll tell you, that idiot will rush right and and try to defeat the god himself, getting himself and all of us killed in the process. Am I wrong?"

Kaori bit her lower lip, bowing her head. "No, you're not wrong. But still, we can't leave them in that place."

"Kaori, right now the dungeon is the safest place for them. Besides, they've barely scratched the surface of that place."

"What do you mean Anthony?" Nagumo asked.

"It's like this." Anthony said, going on to explain the true depths of Oscar's labyrinth in detail.

When everyone heard it, they realized just how strong Anthony truly was, and how much more powerful he would get after conquering the other labyrinths.

"I see." Hajime said, still a bit shocked, especially after learning about the ancient magic hidden beneath the Orcus labyrinth. It was perfect for him, yet wit his super low stats he would be hard pressed not to die in the first floor of the next hundred.

"Yeah I know, it freaked me out to." Anthony said, eyeing Yuka. "Well, if anyone has anymore question I'll answer them before we set out in the morning." A snap of his fingers and Anthony created multiple shadow portals. "The ones next to each of you will take you back to your rooms."

No one said a word as everyone left back to their rooms, Yue and Arturia disabling the barriers and spells around the room of Yuk and the others. Once everyone else had gone, Antony summoned one more portal near Yuka, walking over it, a scared expression on his face.

"Cane we go talk, alone?" Anthony asked, looking up at Yuka.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Yuka answered, going to take Anthony's hand.

Smiling he turned to everyone else. "We'll be a while, so don't wait up."

"Go on love birds, we'll be fine." Nana said.

Anthony did not miss the fact, Nana had draper herself over Alec's back, her boobs pressing into him. Seems he might get a lover soon as well.

So nodding, Anthony took Yuka's hand, and through the shadow portal they stepped.

* * *

**A/N**

**I left in a cliffhanger, but really I'm proud of this chapter, It's one of my longest ever, setting up some good future moments. And now finally, next chapter the long awaited Anthony and Yuka talk. It's going to be a good one. Not to mention, did you see how I set up Nana and Alec, that's not just a fling, if you know what I mean.**

**And will Miledi join the group before their mission is over? Keep reading to find out.**

**As always, review and comment.**


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